US Patent Basics
Patents provide the owner of the patent with the right to
exclude others from using, making and selling the patented invention
(that is, if someone else makes, uses or sells the invention without
permission, the patent owner can sue them). The goal of the patent
system is to provide inventors an incentive to invent and publish their
inventions. Whether
and how well this works for software
is subject to debate. There
is debate if software in the US is patentable
or not,
but those are discussed elsewhere. Patents must be filed by no later
than one year after the
publication of a description of the invention (and putting implementing
source code on a public website or ftp site counts as publication),
otherwise they are invalid. Other
restrictions on patents exist as well. After a certain period of
time, the patents expire. Patents
filed after June 8, 1995 last 20 years from the earliest date of
filing. Patents filed before June
8, 1995 last the longer of 20 years from the filing date or 17 years
from the grant date. If
the patent has mistakes, it can be reissued, and in that case the
patent will expire based on the date of the original patent. Patents
can expire early
if the renewal fees are not payed, and the can last longer if the
Patent office is slow in granting the patent. (Sources: http://www.uspto.gov/go/pac/doc/general/#novelty,
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/35/154(a)(2).html,
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/35/154(c).html
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/2700_2701.htm#sect2701
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/2100_2128.htm
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/1400_1401.htm)
The patent status of a particular standard can vary. For
example, the Fortran
66 standard can almost certainly be implemented without infringing any
patents, since the standard is so old that any essential patents have
long since expired (improperly issued patents could exist so there is a
low but non-zero probability of getting sued). On the other hand,
MPEG-2 has many essential
patents (according to MPEG-LA) so it cannot be implemented and used
without either licensing the patents or infringing on them. For some
standards, the
patent owners have released their patent rights and allow anyone to
implement the standard using the patents without infringement. An
example of this is the
Theora video compression standard where On2 has licensed their patents.
However, just because a specification can be implemented
without infringing patents doesn't mean that a particular
implementation doesn't infringe patents. To invent an example, say
you make a Fortran 66 compiler that will take a MPEG-2 video, decode it
and look for fortran code and compile that code. Despite the fact that
you
could make a Fortran 66 compiler without infringing any valid and
unexpired patents, this bizarre implementation would infringe on any
MPEG-2 patents.
Searching for US Patent and Trademark Office's patent
database will produce large numbers of patents for many queries. For
example, searching
for Class 375/240.16,
which is Subject matter wherein a signal is produced which represents
the spacial change of an image portion, produced 1066 patents. That is
many more patents
than I want to look at. Smarter
searches could reduce this number based on other criteria such as
filing date, but still most searches for patents will quickly return
more patents than anyone can handle. Instead, I used the ITU's
and ISO's patent databases and the companies own claims for patents on
the standard. The
ISO's patent database misses patents that have successfully been sued
over so it should not be relied upon. On the other hand, companies that
claim that their patents cover
a standard and then ask for licensing fees have a bias to try and claim
that they own as many essential patents as possible. In my spot checks,
it
looks like some of the patents that companies are claiming cover the
standard are essential, and some look like they only cover possible
implementations of the standard. Because of this method of search, two
types of errors exist, errors of including patents that are not
required for implementing the standard and missing patents that are
required for implementing the standard.
H.261
One of the earliest compressed video specifications to be
created was ITU's H.261
protocol. This was
initially designed for use over ISDN lines. The specification is
available for from from http://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-H.261
for free. The first
version was finished on November 1988, but many portions were "under
study". The second
version was finished on December 1990. This version included
motion vectors, and other compression techniques used in MPEG-1 and
later video compression codecs. H.261 has not been used nearly as much
as the MPEG standards,
but since it was finished in December 1990, it provides a useful piece
of prior art when
examining other patents. The
ITU has patent database at http://www.itu.int/ipr/IPRSearch.aspx?iprtype=PS
Searching for H.261 show
that there are the following patents listed:
- H261-03 and H261-34 PictureTel Corp. and Polycom, Inc.
- H261-29 Hitachi, Ltd.
- H01-229161 JP -application
- H261-30 Robert Bosch GmbH
- 3 46 636 B1 and 3 46 637 B1 EP
- 3 46 635 B1 EP
- 2 79 053 B1 EP
- 8 34 233
B1 EP Appl. No. 503503/96 (JP), 9 83 219 (US)
The US patent 4,794,455 expired in March 21 of this year.
In the database the following companies are listed as not having any
patents: Sony
Corporation, Bellcore, AT&T Corp., Nortel Networks Limited,
Vistacom Industries, Inc., Graphics Communication Technologies, Ltd.,
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, KDDI Corporation, Alcatel,
Compression Labs, Inc., Toshiba Corporation, AEG Aktiengesellschaft,
British Telecommunications plc, Philips Kommunikations Industrie AG,
Royal PTT Nederland N. V., Sharp Corporation, GPT Data Systems, A GEC
Plessey Telecommunications Division, Société Anonyme de
Télécommunications, Philips Electronics N.V., Oki Electric Industry
Co., Ltd., Centro Studi e Laboratori Telecommunicazioni SPA, Matsushita
Communication Industrial Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Fujitsu
Ltd., NEC CORPORATION, France Telecom/France Telecom Research and
Development Center, Electronics and Telecommunications Research
Institute.
The application 9 83 219 seems to be talking about US
6,198,849, which was filed in December 19, 1997, well after both
the H.261 and MPEG-1 were created. US 6,198,849 mentions H.263 in the
summary, so it probably does
not actually apply to H.261 (Just because someone claims a patent is
required, doesn't mean that is. If you're actually implementing H.261,
don't take my word on
this, look at the patent yourself). The ITU database states that it may
not be complete, so there
may be other H.261 patents. H.261
is only 18 years old, so a patent that was filed before December 1991
would still be in effect (assuming fees paid ...) and the H.261
standard would not count as prior art for that patent though the patent
might be invalid for other reasons. H.261 quite possibly is patent
free, at least in the US.
MPEG-1 ISO/IEC 11172
MPEG-1
(wp) is a widely used
standard for compressing video and audio. The various parts of the
standard can be purchased from the ISO
or ANSI (Part 1,2,3).
It is used for video
cds and most DVD players can play these cds. MPEG-1 is a subset of
MPEG-2, so any complete MPEG-2 player can play MPEG-1 video and audio
as well. Both Microsoft
Media Player
and Apple
Quicktime play MPEG-1. There
are three different ways audio can be encoded in MPEG-1. The simplest
is layer 1,
layer 2 is more complicated and Layer 3 (also know as MP3) is the most
complex. A near
complete draft of MPEG-1 was created in September 1990 and the final
version of the decoding spec (ISO 11172-1,2,3) was published inAugust
1993. The draft
standard was publicly available as ISO
CD 11172 by December
6, 1991. Berkeley
Plateau
Multimedia Research Group created a software
MPEG-1 video decoder by November of 1992 (Old
versions download). Reference
encoders and decoders were published in 1998 by the ISO
and the source code can be downloaded.
The ISO has a patent
database (Use the JCT1 one, and search for 11172) which lists one
MPEG-1
patent owned by the Compusonics Corporation, US 4,472,747, which
expired in 2003. So,
is MPEG-1 be implemented without worrying about infringing patents?
Nope. MPEG-1 Layer 3 audio has
at least three separate companies that claim to have patents, Alcatel-Lucent,
Thompson and AudioMPEG. All
their claimed US MP3
patents are listed in the MP3 patent appendix below. The last of these
patents
expires in March of 2020. If
you only look at the MP3 patents filed before December 1992 (one year
after the decoding spec was published), then the last decoding patent
expires in December of 2012. AudioMPEG
claims that their patents cover MPEG-1 layers 1,2 and 3. The other
companies just
talk about Layer 3. So,
at the minimum, fully decoding and encoding MPEG-1 audio is patented.
The US
4,972,484 patent "Method of transmitting or storing masked sub-band
coded audio signals" seems to expire July 21 this year. That patent
describes the
basic algorithm used for Layer 2 audio. While there may be other
Layer 2 patents, the expiration of 4,972,484 could make Layer 2 audio
patent free in the US. It
is quite possible that some of the claimed MP3 patents are could either
be invalided by prior art, or could be avoided by using a different
method of implementation.
So, assuming MPEG-1 with Layer 2 audio is patent free,
but MP3 is not, what would that allow without patent issues? It would
not allow fully
conforming MPEG-1 decoders because they require MPEG-1 Layer 3 audio
which is probably patented till at least December of 2012. In other
words, the MPEG-1 decoder would not have
sound if it found MP3 data. MPEG-1 encoders would be possible, since
they could just encode the audio with the Layer 2 method. Video CDs use Layer 2 audio,
so both encoding and decoding could be done for them. If it was done
carefully,
encoding for DVD could be done since MPEG-2 is fully backward
compatible with MPEG-1.
MPEG-2
MPEG-2, like MPEG-1 is a video and audio compression
standard. It added
features like interlaced video and better error handing to MPEG-1. MPEG LA has a patent list
available of patents that MPEG-LA considers essential to implementing
MPEG-2. The last US
patent on that list, US
7,292,657, expires in 2023. So baring either a lot of patents being
declared invalid, or
software patents either being declared invalid or having their term
retroactively reduced or the companies that own the patents allowing
them to be freely used, MPEG-2 will be difficult to implement without
patent infringement for a while. Since MPEG-2 also includes MPEG-1, all
the audio patents in it
also apply (Interestingly, MPEG-LA's list does not include these).
Quicktime and Windows
Media Player's free version do not play MPEG-2, possibly because of the
extra patents that apply to MPEG-2 compared to MPEG-1. At least some
MPEG-2
patents clearly do not apply to MPEG-1, such as US 5,093,720, which
deals with interlaced video. If you are trying to figure out what
patents might exist for
MPEG-1, the older MPEG-2 patents should be looked at.
What Can Be Done?
First of all, if you need video in an open source
program, use one of the alternatives that are widely distributed
already in open source programs such as Theora/Vorbis and Motion JPEG. On2
has patents that
Theora contains, but they have granted a license to use them. If you
need a video
format that almost certainly patent free, and supported by Quicktime
and Windows Media Player and most open source players, try Motion JPEG.
Motion JPEG has fairly substantial file sizes since it basically is a
series of JPEG pictures. While
there certainly could be the potential for a patent infringement case
when using one of these, they are widely distributed, so unless you
have a lot of money you will probably not get sued over them.
If you want to create or use open source MPEG-1 software
in the US, here are some things that can be done to work towards
clearing MPEG-1 for use. Prior
art is useful for reducing the possible valid patents, so it is useful
to find the oldest publications on MPEG-1 and the oldest source code
for MPEG-1. It
would be useful to have a comparison between the draft MPEG-1 standard
and the final MPEG-1 standard since this would allow the MPEG-1 Draft
date to be used as prior art (and the draft is no longer available for
purchase as far as I know). A detail comparison between H.261 and
MPEG-1 would allow
determining which patents might only apply to MPEG-1, and which can be
invalidated from H.261's 1990 specification.
The MPEG-2 patents that are too old to be invalidated by
the MPEG-1 standard or other prior art need to be checked to see if
MPEG-1 might use them. Categorizing
the MPEG-2 patents
into encoding and decoding and video or audio makes it easier to figure
out which ones apply for a given implementation. And of course, since I
only looked at US patents, the same types of things need to be done for
the German, Japanese
and other countries patents.
Summary
H.261 is probably patent free in the US, but there
certainly could be patents that are not listed in the ITU database.
There is a good chance
that MPEG-1 with Layer 2 audio will soon be patent free, but it might
not be. MPEG-1 layer
3 audio has many patents claimed for it. MPEG-2 is not patent free
and it will be almost two decades before the MPEG-LA patents expire.
There are no reliable
lists of patents for the MPEG standards available on the web for free.
Considering that MPEG-1
has been out for more than a decade, this is ridiculous. If you need to
put video
in an open source program, consider Theora
or Motion JPEG. If
you want to get a definite legal opinion on the patent status for H.261
or MPEG-1, you will probably spend a lot of money on Lawyers or spend a
lot of time reading patents and patent law. Or just wait several
years. Most (but not
all) patents expire 20 years after they are filed, and the patents have
to be filed within 1 year of publication, so 21 years after the
standard is published, the patents mostly will have expired. H.261 is
21 years old in
2011, and MPEG-1 decoding (Draft) is 21 years old in 2012 and MPEG-1
reference encoding and decoding is 21 years old in 2019.
Disclaimers:
I am not a lawyer. I am not a MPEG or H.261 expert. This
is not legal advice. This was written on my
own time and I am speaking for myself and not my employer. Many of
sites used in
this have disclaimers that they can not provide legal advice or are not
guaranteed to be complete. Non-US
patents are generally ignored. If you want to use MPEG-1, H.261 or
MPEG-2 right now, you are
always perfectly free to negotiate with the patent owners (if you can
find them all) for permission to do so. There are almost
certainly mistakes in this, so be careful. If you need accurate
information carefully check it yourself or pay a lawyer to do so. The
patent data were
automatically gathered and calculated with programs available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jrincayc/Patent_utils
This work is licensed with the GNU Free Documentation
License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free
Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover
Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts.
MPEG-2 Patents
Source: http://www.mpegla.com/m2/m2-att1.pdf
Alcatel-Lucent
US
4,833,543 Filed: 24 dec 1986 Granted: 23 may 1989
Expiration: 24 dec 2006 Image processing system and phaselocked
loop used therein
US
4,970,590 Filed: 21 dec 1989 Granted: 13 nov 1990
Expiration: 21 dec 2009 System and device for package multiplexing
in transmission of many data flows generated by a sole algorithm
US
5,453,790 Filed: 26 mar 1993 Granted: 26 sep 1995
Expiration: 26 mar 2013 Video decoder having asynchronous operation
with respect to a video display
British Telecommunications plc
US
5,291,284 Filed: 23 jul 1991 Granted: 01 mar 1994
Expiration: 23 jul 2011 Predictive coding and decoding with error
drift reduction
Canon Inc.
US
4,982,270 Filed: 03 feb 1989 Granted: 01 jan 1991
Expiration: 03 feb 2009 Video data transmitting system
CIF LICENSING, LLC
US
5,068,724 Filed: 15 jun 1990 Granted: 26 nov 1991
Expiration: 15 jun 2010 Adaptive motion compensation for digital
television
US
5,091,782 Filed: 09 apr 1990 Granted: 25 feb 1992
Expiration: 09 apr 2010 Apparatus and method for adaptively
compressing successive blocks of digital video
US
5,093,720 Filed: 20 aug 1990 Granted: 03 mar 1992
Expiration: 20 aug 2010 Motion compensation for interlaced digital
television signals
Columbia University
US
RE35,093 Filed: 09 dec 1994 Granted: 21 nov 1995 Expiration:
03 dec 2010 Systems and methods for coding even fields of
interlaced video sequences Reissue of 05193004 filed 03 dec 1990
granted 09 mar 1993
France Telecom R&D
US
4,796,087 Filed: 01 jun 1987 Granted: 03 jan 1989
Expiration: 01 jun 2007 Process for coding by transformation for
the transmission of picture signals
Fujitsu
US
5,235,618 Filed: 06 nov 1990 Granted: 10 aug 1993
Expiration: 06 nov 2010 Video signal coding apparatus, coding
method used in the video signal coding apparatus and video signal
coding transmission system having the video signal coding apparatus
General Electric
US
4,706,260 Filed: 07 nov 1986 Granted: 10 nov 1987
Expiration: 07 nov 2006 DPCM system with rate-of-fill control of
buffer occupancy
US
4,813,056 Filed: 08 dec 1987 Granted: 14 mar 1989
Expiration: 08 dec 2007 Modified statistical coding of digital
signals
General Instrument
US
4,394,774 Filed: 26 jun 1981 Granted: 19 jul 1983
Expiration: 26 jun 2001 Digital video compression system and
methods utilizing scene adaptive coding with rate buffer feedback
US
4,698,672 Filed: 27 oct 1986 Granted: 06 oct 1987
Expiration: 27 oct 2006 Coding system for reducing redundancy
General Electric
US
5,426,464 Filed: 18 oct 1994 Granted: 20 jun 1995
Expiration: 18 oct 2014 Field elimination apparatus for a video
compression/decompression system
US
5,486,864 Filed: 13 may 1993 Granted: 23 jan 1996
Expiration: 13 may 2013 Differential time code method and apparatus
as for a compressed video signal
US
5,491,516 Filed: 14 jan 1993 Granted: 13 feb 1996
Expiration: 14 jan 2013 Field elimination apparatus for a video
compression/decompression system
US
5,600,376 Filed: 20 mar 1995 Granted: 04 feb 1997
Expiration: 20 mar 2015 Field elimination apparatus for a video
compression/decompression system
US
5,796,743 Filed: 23 may 1996 Granted: 18 aug 1998
Expiration: 23 may 2016 Data word indicator in a system for
assembling transport data packets
LG Electronics
US
RE37,057 Filed: 18 may 1998 Granted: 20 feb 2001 Expiration:
14 nov 2014 Apparatus and method for converting an HDTV signal to a
non-HDTV signal Reissue of 05519446 filed 14 nov 1994 granted 21
may 1996
US
RE37,568 Filed: 31 mar 1999 Granted: 05 mar 2002 Expiration:
30 nov 2013 Inverse Quantizer Reissue of 05617094 filed 30 nov
1993 granted 01 apr 1997
Matsushita
US
RE35,910 Filed: 12 may 1994 Granted: 29 sep 1998 Expiration:
11 may 2010 Moving image signal encoding apparatus and decoding
apparatus Reissue of 05113255 filed 11 may 1990 granted 12 may 1992
US
RE36,015 Filed: 02 oct 1995 Granted: 29 dec 1998 Expiration:
27 mar 2012 Apparatus and method for processing groups of fields in
a video data compression system Reissue of 05293229 filed 27 mar
1992 granted 08 mar 1994
US
RE36,507 Filed: 21 oct 1997 Granted: 18 jan 2000 Expiration:
27 mar 2012 Apparatus and method for processing groups of fields in
a video data compression system to encode a single frame as an I-field
and a P-field Reissue of 05293229 filed 27 mar 1992 granted 08 mar
1994
US
RE39,276 Filed: 27 apr 2000 Granted: 12 sep 2006 Expiration:
20 jul 2014 Method for determining motion compensation Reissue
of 05745182 filed 20 jul 1994 granted 28 apr 1998
US
RE39,278 Filed: 13 apr 2001 Granted: 12 sep 2006 Expiration:
20 jul 2014 Method for determining motion compensation Reissue
of 05745182 filed 20 jul 1994 granted 28 apr 1998
US
RE39,280 Filed: 30 may 2001 Granted: 12 sep 2006 Expiration:
20 jul 2014 Method for determining motion compensation Reissue
of 05745182 filed 20 jul 1994 granted 28 apr 1998
US
5,223,949 Filed: 17 apr 1992 Granted: 29 jun 1993
Expiration: 17 apr 2012 Coding means for a signal processing system
US
5,412,430 Filed: 04 may 1994 Granted: 02 may 1995
Expiration: 04 may 2014 Image coding method and image coding
apparatus
US
5,784,107 Filed: 23 jan 1996 Granted: 21 jul 1998
Expiration: 23 jan 2016 Method and apparatus for picture coding and
method and apparatus for picture decoding
Mitsubishi
US
4,954,892 Filed: 04 oct 1989 Granted: 04 sep 1990
Expiration: 04 oct 2009 Buffer controlled picture signal encoding
and decoding system
US
5,072,295 Filed: 20 aug 1990 Granted: 10 dec 1991
Expiration: 20 aug 2010 Adaptive quantization coder/decoder with
limiter circuitry
US
5,268,846 Filed: 10 apr 1991 Granted: 07 dec 1993
Expiration: 10 apr 2011 Method and apparatus for nonsequential
multimedia data interchange in a data processing system
US
5,949,489 Filed: 31 jul 1998 Granted: 07 sep 1999
Expiration: 31 jul 2018 Image signal coding system
US
5,963,258 Filed: 31 jul 1998 Granted: 05 oct 1999
Expiration: 31 jul 2018 Image signal coding system
US
5,970,175 Filed: 26 oct 1998 Granted: 19 oct 1999
Expiration: 26 oct 2018 Image signal coding system
US
5,990,960 Filed: 09 dec 1998 Granted: 23 nov 1999
Expiration: 09 dec 2018 Image signal coding system
US
6,002,439 Filed: 27 may 1999 Granted: 14 dec 1999
Expiration: 27 may 2019 Image signal coding system
US
6,097,759 Filed: 22 nov 1999 Granted: 01 aug 2000
Expiration: 22 nov 2019 Image signal coding system
US
6,188,794 Filed: 20 may 1999 Granted: 13 feb 2001
Expiration: 20 may 2019 Image signal coding system
US
6,307,973 Filed: 04 dec 2000 Granted: 23 oct 2001
Expiration: 04 dec 2020 Image signal coding system
Philips
US
4,849,812 Filed: 24 feb 1988 Granted: 18 jul 1989
Expiration: 24 feb 2008 Television system in which digitized
picture signals subjected to a transform coding are transmitted from an
encoding station to a decoding station
US
4,901,075 Filed: 11 sep 1987 Granted: 13 feb 1990
Expiration: 11 sep 2007 Method and apparatus for bit rate reduction
US
5,021,879 Filed: 24 sep 1990 Granted: 04 jun 1991
Expiration: 24 sep 2010 System for transmitting video pictures
US
5,027,206 Filed: 13 sep 1989 Granted: 25 jun 1991
Expiration: 13 sep 2009 High-definition television systems
US
5,128,758 Filed: 02 jun 1989 Granted: 07 jul 1992
Expiration: 02 jun 2009 Method and apparatus for digitally
processing a high definition television augmentation signal
US
5,179,442 Filed: 26 nov 1990 Granted: 12 jan 1993
Expiration: 26 nov 2010 Method and apparatus for digitally
processing a high definition television augmentation signal
US
5,333,135 Filed: 01 feb 1993 Granted: 26 jul 1994
Expiration: 01 feb 2013 Identification of a data stream transmitted
as a sequence of packets
US
5,606,539 Filed: 31 aug 1994 Granted: 25 feb 1997
Expiration: 31 aug 2014 Method and apparatus for encoding and
decoding an audio and/or video signal, and a record carrier for use
with such apparatus
US
5,608,697 Filed: 18 mar 1996 Granted: 04 mar 1997
Expiration: 18 mar 2016 Record carrier containing an audio and/or
video signal which has been encoded and includes a decoder delay time
parameter indicating a time delay for one or more portions of the signal
US
5,740,310 Filed: 28 jun 1994 Granted: 14 apr 1998
Expiration: 28 jun 2014 Method of maintaining display continuity
from a CD with slow-motion or freeze capability
US
5,844,867 Filed: 09 sep 1996 Granted: 01 dec 1998
Expiration: 09 sep 2016 Methods and apparatus for encoding and
decoding an audio and/or video signal, and a record carrier used
therewith or produced therefrom
Samsung
US
5,461,421 Filed: 29 nov 1993 Granted: 24 oct 1995
Expiration: 29 nov 2013 Encoding and decoding method and apparatus
thereof
US
5,467,086 Filed: 18 jun 1993 Granted: 14 nov 1995
Expiration: 18 jun 2013 Apparatus and method of coding/decoding
video data
US
5,654,706 Filed: 18 dec 1996 Granted: 05 aug 1997
Expiration: 18 dec 2016 System for variable length decoding digital
transmission data which has been compressed by selecting a scanning
pattern
US
6,680,975 Filed: 02 nov 2000 Granted: 20 jan 2004
Expiration: 02 nov 2020 Signal encoding and decoding system and
method
US
7,292,657 Filed: 03 jul 2003 Granted: 06 nov 2007
Expiration: 03 jul 2023 Signal compressing signal
Scientific Atlanta
US
5,418,782 Filed: 06 jan 1994 Granted: 23 may 1995
Expiration: 06 jan 2014 Methods and apparatus for providing virtual
service selection in a multi-service communications system
US
5,420,866 Filed: 29 mar 1994 Granted: 30 may 1995
Expiration: 29 mar 2014 Methods for providing conditional access
information to decoders in a packet-based multiplexed communications
system
US
5,457,701 Filed: 06 jan 1994 Granted: 10 oct 1995
Expiration: 06 jan 2014 Method for indicating packet errors in a
packet-based multi-hop communications system
Sony
US
4,864,393 Filed: 31 may 1988 Granted: 05 sep 1989
Expiration: 31 may 2008 Motion vector estimation in television
images
US
RE37,222 Filed: 19 jul 1994 Granted: 12 jun 2001 Expiration:
12 oct 2010 Video signal transmitting system Reissue of
05132792 filed 12 oct 1990 granted 21 jul 1992
US
5,191,436 Filed: 30 apr 1991 Granted: 02 mar 1993
Expiration: 30 apr 2011 Method for recording coded motion picture
data
US
5,291,486 Filed: 07 aug 1992 Granted: 01 mar 1994
Expiration: 07 aug 2012 Data multiplexing apparatus and multiplexed
data demultiplexing apparatus
US
5,298,991 Filed: 24 jul 1992 Granted: 29 mar 1994
Expiration: 24 jul 2012 Variable length coding apparatus and method
for motion vector
US
5,343,248 Filed: 16 jul 1992 Granted: 30 aug 1994
Expiration: 16 jul 2012 Moving image compressing and recording
medium and moving image data encoder and decoder
US
5,428,396 Filed: 27 dec 1993 Granted: 27 jun 1995
Expiration: 27 dec 2013 Variable length coding/decoding method for
motion vectors
US
5,461,420 Filed: 17 sep 1993 Granted: 24 oct 1995
Expiration: 17 sep 2013 Apparatus for coding and decoding a digital
video signal derived from a motion picture film source
US
5,481,553 Filed: 28 feb 1994 Granted: 02 jan 1996
Expiration: 28 feb 2014 Methods and apparatus for preventing
rounding errors when transform coefficients representing a motion
picture signal are inversely transformed
US
5,510,840 Filed: 15 may 1995 Granted: 23 apr 1996
Expiration: 15 may 2015 Methods and devices for encoding and
decoding frame signals and recording medium therefor
US
5,539,466 Filed: 26 sep 1994 Granted: 23 jul 1996
Expiration: 26 sep 2014 Efficient coding apparatus for picture
signal and decoding apparatus therefor
US
5,543,847 Filed: 13 dec 1993 Granted: 06 aug 1996
Expiration: 13 dec 2013 Picture coding and decoding method for
random accessing
US
5,559,557 Filed: 28 sep 1993 Granted: 24 sep 1996
Expiration: 28 sep 2013 Motion video coding with adaptive precision
for DC component coefficient quantization and variable length coding
US
5,663,763 Filed: 18 oct 1993 Granted: 02 sep 1997
Expiration: 18 oct 2013 Picture signal encoding method and
apparatus and picture signal decoding method and apparatus
US
5,666,461 Filed: 30 may 1995 Granted: 09 sep 1997
Expiration: 30 may 2015 High efficiency encoding and decoding of
picture signals and recording medium containing same
US
5,701,164 Filed: 19 dec 1996 Granted: 23 dec 1997
Expiration: 19 dec 2016 Macroblock coding including difference
between motion vectors
US
5,946,042 Filed: 02 jul 1997 Granted: 31 aug 1999
Expiration: 02 jul 2017 Macroblock coding including difference
between motion vectors
US
5,982,437 Filed: 15 oct 1993 Granted: 09 nov 1999
Expiration: 15 oct 2013 Coding method and system, and decoding
method and system
US
6,040,863 Filed: 18 dec 1998 Granted: 21 mar 2000
Expiration: 18 dec 2018 Method of coding and decoding motion vector
and apparatus therefor, and method of coding and decoding picture
signal and apparatus therefor
US
6,160,849 Filed: 30 may 1995 Granted: 12 dec 2000
Expiration: 30 may 2015 Selectable field and frame based predictive
video coding
Thomson SA
US
4,800,432 Filed: 24 oct 1986 Granted: 24 jan 1989
Expiration: 24 oct 2006 Video Difference key generator
US
4,969,055 Filed: 25 aug 1988 Granted: 06 nov 1990
Expiration: 25 aug 2008 Method for recording and/or reproducing
digitally coded signals with interframe and interframe coding
US
5,289,276 Filed: 19 jun 1992 Granted: 22 feb 1994
Expiration: 19 jun 2012 Method and apparatus for conveying
compressed video data over a noisy communication channel
US
5,365,272 Filed: 02 jul 1993 Granted: 15 nov 1994
Expiration: 02 jul 2013 Method for formatting compressed video data
into transport cells
US
5,381,181 Filed: 13 may 1993 Granted: 10 jan 1995
Expiration: 13 may 2013 Clock recovery apparatus as for a
compressed video signal
US
5,422,676 Filed: 22 oct 1993 Granted: 06 jun 1995
Expiration: 22 oct 2013 System for coding an image representative
signal
US
5,442,400 Filed: 29 apr 1993 Granted: 15 aug 1995
Expiration: 29 apr 2013 Error concealment apparatus for MPEG-like
video data
US
5,459,789 Filed: 22 apr 1994 Granted: 17 oct 1995
Expiration: 22 apr 2014 Packet TV program component detector
US
5,483,287 Filed: 03 aug 1994 Granted: 09 jan 1996
Expiration: 03 aug 2014 Method for forming transport cells for
conveying compressed video data
US
5,565,923 Filed: 22 aug 1995 Granted: 15 oct 1996
Expiration: 22 aug 2015 Apparatus for formatting a digital signal
to include multiple time stamps for system synchronization
US
5,784,110 Filed: 23 may 1996 Granted: 21 jul 1998
Expiration: 23 may 2016 Data processor for assembling transport
data packets
US
7,020,204 Filed: 08 feb 2002 Granted: 28 mar 2006
Expiration: 08 feb 2022 Adaptive method of encoding and decoding a
series of pictures by transformation, and devices for implementing this
method
Toshiba
US
5,317,397 Filed: 29 may 1992 Granted: 31 may 1994
Expiration: 29 may 2012 Predictive coding using spatial-temporal
filtering and plural motion vectors
US
5,424,779 Filed: 24 nov 1993 Granted: 13 jun 1995
Expiration: 24 nov 2013 Video coding apparatus
US
5,467,136 Filed: 17 feb 1994 Granted: 14 nov 1995
Expiration: 17 feb 2014 Video decoder for determining a motion
vector from a scaled vector and a difference vector
US
5,742,344 Filed: 03 apr 1996 Granted: 21 apr 1998
Expiration: 03 apr 2016 Motion compensated video decoding method
and system for decoding a coded video signal using spatial and temporal
filtering
US
5,986,713 Filed: 11 jun 1998 Granted: 16 nov 1999
Expiration: 11 jun 2018 Video coding apparatus using inter-field
prediction
JVC
US
RE34,965 Filed: 14 jan 1993 Granted: 13 jun 1995 Expiration:
18 jan 2010 Inter-frame predictive encoding system with encoded and
transmitted prediction error Reissue of 04985768 filed 18 jan 1990
granted 15 jan 1991
US
RE35,158 Filed: 28 dec 1992 Granted: 20 feb 1996 Expiration:
26 apr 2010 Apparatus for adaptive inter-frame predictive encoding
of video signal Reissue of 04982285 filed 26 apr 1990 granted 01
jan 1991
US
RE36,822 Filed: 02 oct 1998 Granted: 15 aug 2000 Expiration:
17 jun 2016 Moving image signal coding apparatus and coded signal
decoding apparatus Reissue of 05748784 filed 17 jun 1996 granted
05 may 1998
US
5,103,307 Filed: 18 jan 1991 Granted: 07 apr 1992
Expiration: 18 jan 2011 Interframe predictive coding/decoding
system for varying interval between independent frames
US
5,175,618 Filed: 30 oct 1991 Granted: 29 dec 1992
Expiration: 30 oct 2011 Compression method for interlace moving
image signals
MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 Patents
Source: http://www.tunequest.org/a-big-list-of-mp3-patents/20070226/
and http://www.audiompeg.com/us_patents.asp
Alcatel-Lucent
US
5,341,457 Filed: 20 aug 1993 Granted: 23 aug 1994
Expiration: 20 aug 2013 Perceptual coding of audio signals
US
RE39,080 Filed: 13 aug 2002 Granted: 25 apr 2006 Expiration:
22 sep 2014 Rate loop processor for perceptual encoder/decoder Reissue
of 05627938 filed 22 sep 1994 granted 06 may 1997
Audio MPEG, Inc
US
4,972,484 Filed: 21 jul 1988 Granted: 20 nov 1990
Expiration: 21 jul 2008 Method of transmitting or storing masked
sub-band coded audio signals
US
5,214,678 Filed: 31 may 1990 Granted: 25 may 1993
Expiration: 31 may 2010 Digital transmission system using subband
coding of a digital signal
US
5,323,396 Filed: 21 dec 1992 Granted: 21 jun 1994
Expiration: 21 dec 2012 Digital transmission system, transmitter
and receiver for use in the transmission system
US
5,539,829 Filed: 07 jun 1995 Granted: 23 jul 1996
Expiration: 07 jun 2015 Subband coded digital transmission system
using some composite signals
US
5,606,618 Filed: 27 dec 1993 Granted: 25 feb 1997
Expiration: 27 dec 2013 Subband coded digital transmission system
using some composite signals
US
5,530,655 Filed: 06 jun 1995 Granted: 25 jun 1996
Expiration: 06 jun 2015 Digital sub-band transmission system with
transmission of an additional signal
US
5,777,992 Filed: 07 jun 1995 Granted: 07 jul 1998
Expiration: 07 jun 2015 Decoder for decoding and encoded digital
signal and a receiver comprising the decoder
US
6,289,308 Filed: 08 mar 2000 Granted: 11 sep 2001
Expiration: 08 mar 2020 Encoded wideband digital transmission
signal and record carrier recorded with such a signal
US
5,481,643 Filed: 24 apr 1995 Granted: 02 jan 1996
Expiration: 24 apr 2015 Transmitter, receiver and record carrier
for transmitting/receiving at least a first and a second signal
component
US
5,544,247 Filed: 25 oct 1994 Granted: 06 aug 1996
Expiration: 25 oct 2014 Transmission and reception of a first and a
second main signal component
US
5,610,985 Filed: 21 jan 1994 Granted: 11 mar 1997
Expiration: 21 jan 2014 Digital 3-channel transmission of left and
right stereo signals and a center signal
US
5,740,317 Filed: 30 aug 1995 Granted: 14 apr 1998
Expiration: 30 aug 2015 Process for finding the overall monitoring
threshold during a bit-rate-reducing source coding
US
5,878,080 Filed: 07 feb 1997 Granted: 02 mar 1999
Expiration: 07 feb 2017 N-channel transmission, compatible with
2-channel transmission and 1-channel transmission
US
5,960,037 Filed: 09 apr 1997 Granted: 28 sep 1999
Expiration: 09 apr 2017 Encoding of a plurality of information
signals
US
5,991,715 Filed: 31 aug 1995 Granted: 23 nov 1999
Expiration: 31 aug 2015 Perceptual audio signal subband coding
using value classes for successive scale factor differences
US
6,023,490 Filed: 09 apr 1997 Granted: 08 feb 2000
Expiration: 09 apr 2017 Encoding apparatus for encoding a plurality
of information signals
Thomson
US
4,821,260 Filed: 16 dec 1987 Granted: 11 apr 1989
Expiration: 16 dec 2007 Transmission system
US
4,942,607 Filed: 03 feb 1988 Granted: 17 jul 1990
Expiration: 03 feb 2008 Method of transmitting an audio signal
US
5,214,742 Filed: 01 oct 1990 Granted: 25 may 1993
Expiration: 01 oct 2010 Method for transmitting a signal
US
5,227,990 Filed: 17 jan 1992 Granted: 13 jul 1993
Expiration: 17 jan 2012 Process for transmitting and receiving a
signal
US
5,384,811 Filed: 24 aug 1992 Granted: 24 jan 1995
Expiration: 24 aug 2012 Method for the transmission of a signal
US
5,736,943 Filed: 31 may 1996 Granted: 07 apr 1998
Expiration: 31 may 2016 Method for determining the type of coding
to be selected for coding at least two signals
US
5,455,833 Filed: 26 apr 1993 Granted: 03 oct 1995
Expiration: 26 apr 2013 Process for the detecting of errors in the
transmission of frequency-coded digital signals
US
5,559,834 Filed: 15 apr 1994 Granted: 24 sep 1996
Expiration: 15 apr 2014 Method of reducing crosstalk in processing
of acoustic or optical signals
US
5,321,729 Filed: 26 apr 1993 Granted: 14 jun 1994
Expiration: 26 apr 2013 Method for transmitting a signal
US
5,706,309 Filed: 02 may 1995 Granted: 06 jan 1998
Expiration: 02 may 2015 Process for transmitting and/or storing
digital signals of multiple channels
US
5,701,346 Filed: 12 sep 1996 Granted: 23 dec 1997
Expiration: 12 sep 2016 Method of coding a plurality of audio
signals
US
5,742,735 Filed: 25 aug 1994 Granted: 21 apr 1998
Expiration: 25 aug 2014 Digital adaptive transformation coding
method
US
5,812,672 Filed: 15 dec 1994 Granted: 22 sep 1998
Expiration: 15 dec 2014 Method for reducing data in the
transmission and/or storage of digital signals of several dependent
channels
US
5,579,430 Filed: 26 jan 1995 Granted: 26 nov 1996
Expiration: 26 jan 2015 Digital encoding process
US
6,185,539 Filed: 26 may 1998 Granted: 06 feb 2001
Expiration: 26 may 2018 Process of low sampling rate digital
encoding of audio signals
US
6,009,399 Filed: 16 apr 1997 Granted: 28 dec 1999
Expiration: 16 apr 2017 Method and apparatus for encoding digital
signals employing bit allocation using combinations of different
threshold models to achieve desired bit rates
US
5,924,060 Filed: 20 mar 1997 Granted: 13 jul 1999
Expiration: 20 mar 2017 Digital coding process for transmission or
storage of acoustical signals by transforming of scanning values into
spectral coefficients
US
5,703,999 Filed: 18 nov 1996 Granted: 30 dec 1997
Expiration: 18 nov 2016 Process for reducing data in the
transmission and/or storage of digital signals from several
interdependent channels
MPEG-1 Patent
Source: The ISO patent
database (Use the JCT1 one, and search for 11172)
Compusonics Corporation
US
4,472,747 Filed: 19 apr 1983 Granted: 18 sep 1984
Expiration: 19 apr 2003 Audio digital recording and playback system
H.261 Patent
Source: http://www.itu.int/ipr/IPRSearch.aspx?iprtype=PS
Search H.261, and see the 3rd and 34th entry
PictureTel Corp. and Polycom, Inc.
US
4,794,455 Filed: 21 mar 1988 Granted: 27 dec 1988
Expiration: 21 mar 2008 Method and apparatus employing adaptive
filtering for efficiently communicating image sequences
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