Avanci Takes Aim At The Tech Giants

Last week, Avanci announced a licensing program for video codecs. Avanci, of course, is a big name in the development of patent licenses. It should therefore be no surprise that it has created a new offering for video technology, which has recently gained traction as a key technology for potential licensing and litigation efforts. However, Avanci's targeted licensees are somewhat surprising. Instead of focusing on end-device developers as it has done in the past, Avanci is now taking aim at the world's largest tech companies.

For context, Avanci is not a patent owner, but rather an administrator of patent pools. Its focus has been developing licenses for standard essential patents (SEPs) and securing licensees within particular vertical markets. For example, Avanci's most successful licensing program to date is its 4G cellular standards license in the automotive market. By some accounts, Avanci has now secured licenses for over 80% of that market. That is, for