Welcome to the latest edition of the Sisvel Insights weekly round-up, aggregating news stories, analyses and data points affecting the SEP world that have caught our eye over the past seven days.

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With the AV2 specification now published, growing attention is being paid to how the codec will be licensed. In an article published this week on Sisvel Insights, our President and CEO Mattia Fogliacco said that one thing is certain: as with AV1 and VP9, it will not be ‘royalty free’, despite claims that may be made to the contrary. It is also a category error to believe that licensing patents reading on proprietary video technology is the same as doing it on FRAND terms with SEPs covering an open standard; or that both types of patents can be combined in a single pool. That would be a mistake on multiple levels, he argued. Sisvel launched its successful AV1 and VP9 programmes in 2019 and has a level of expertise in video codec technology and its licensing market that few (if any) can match. Put another way, Mattia knows what he is talking about. That makes this article an important intervention and required reading.

Elsewhere, Via Licensing announced the launch of a new patent pool covering DRAM technology; and the European Commission revealed plans for an IP valuation centre to be based at the EUIPO in Alicante. In his latest article on AI, meanwhile, Sisvel’s Head of Portfolio Management Sharaz Gill explained why the increased use of AI as a tool in the inventive process is unlikely to lead to a big jump in the number of patents being awarded. In fact, he says, the opposite may apply.

Please note that the inclusion of a piece in the list below does not signify agreement with what is stated in the linked article – just that we believe it is of interest and worth flagging.

Market

China Telecom has joined the Sisvel POS patent pool, bringing the total number of participating SEP owners to 45. Read more (Sisvel LinkedIn)

Via LAhas announced the formation of a DRAM patent pool and plans for a Media for Cloud Processing programme. Read more (Via LA LinkedIn)

Tulip Innovations has launched a new licensing programme covering more than 125,000 non-SEP imaging patents owned by Canon, Huawei, Oppo and Sony. Read more (IAM)🔒

VideoLabs has won a mandate to license HEVC and VVC patents owned by Texas Instruments. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Chinese smartphone company Honor has acquired a portfolio of codec-related patents from LG Electronics. Read more (ip fray)

Legal

Farm equipment maker AGCO has been accused of infringing cellular SEPs by licensing firm Sol IP. Read more (ip fray) 🔒

Disney faces the potential suspension of its Disney+ service in Brazil following the award of a preliminary injunction to IBEX in a HEVC case. Read more (ip fray) 🔒

In the UPC dispute between InterDigital and TCL, the Munich Local Division has rejected the Chinese company’s request for access to comparable InterDigital licence agreements because there is not yet clarity about its willingness to take a FRAND licence. Read more (ip fray) 🔒

Policy & Opinion

Licensing an open standard on FRAND terms is not the same as licensing a proprietary technology and the two approaches must never be blurred. Nowhere is this more the case than with VP9, AV1 and now AV2. Read more (Sisvel Insights)

The European Commission has unveiled proposals to establish an IP valuation framework and commercialisation platform operating out of the EUIPO in Alicante. Read more (European Commission). See also MLex🔒and IAM 🔒

Chen Fuli, a senior Chinese trade official whose past posts include IP attaché to the United States, has been tapped for a top CNIPA role as Commissioner Chen Shangyu prepares to depart for WIPO. Read more (MLex)🔒

The growing geopolitical dimension of standardised technology has made ETSI’s role more important but also more challenging, says the institute’s Director-General Jan Ellsberger. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Strategy & Analysis

AI advances could mean that many more inventions do not meet patent law’s inventive step requirement, Sisvel’s Sharaz Gill writes. Read more (Sisvel Insights)

The landmark January 2026 ruling of the German Federal Court of Justice in VoiceAge v HMD failed to set out what security deposit and/or interim payments must be made by implementers pending a FRAND licence agreement. Read more (IAM) 🔒

While 6G can be described through three pillars – connectivity, sensing and computing – connectivity is the one that is most closely tied to standards-based cellular IP value. Read more (Qualcomm OnQ blog)

There has been a noteworthy uptick in patent declaratory judgment actions in the US district courts. Read more (Law360) 🔒