Via Licensing and MPEG LA announced they have merged to form Via Licensing Alliance.
For more information visit: www.Via-LA.com
Unedited press release follows:
Via Licensing and MPEG LA Unite to Form Via Licensing Alliance, the Largest Patent Pool Administrator in the Consumer Electronics Industry
New “Pool of Pools” Leverages Decades of Licensing Expertise and Economies of Scale to Further Streamline Intellectual Property Distribution for Innovators and Technology Implementers
SAN FRANCISCO and DENVER, May 02, 2023 — Via Licensing Corporation (Via) and MPEG LA, L.L.C. (MPEG LA) today announced they have united to form Via Licensing Alliance LLC (Via LA), a new collaborative licensing organization with a rich portfolio of patents and intellectual property licensing programs, hundreds of licensors, and thousands of licensees.
Via LA combines the expertise, infrastructure, and relationships of two of the industry’s most successful patent pool administrators. MPEG LA’s MPEG-2 licensing program established the modern patent pool industry and helped produce one of the most widely employed standards in consumer electronics history, and Via’s AAC pool has continued to advance inclusive and efficient new patent licensing since launching its first pool over 20 years ago.
Patent pools support the industry by streamlining the highly complex, dispersed patent licensing process to deliver efficiency to accelerate technology adoption, maximize continuous value creation opportunities, and reduce friction and risk. Combining the teams and best practices of these two licensing pioneers creates new economies of scale and efficiencies that benefit the global innovation ecosystem.
Via LA expands these benefits by consolidating dozens of patent pools covering a broad range of technologies into one organization, further simplifying the licensing process for its pool participants. In addition, affiliates of General Electric Company, Koninklijke Philips N.V., and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation will convert their partial ownership in MPEG LA to partial ownership in Via LA. The participation of GE, Philips, and Mitsubishi Electric will provide continuity and deep industry experience to help take Via LA to the next level.
“Via LA combines the best capabilities in the licensing industry to deliver efficient, transparent, and balanced intellectual property solutions to thousands of partners around the world,” said Heath Hoglund, President, Via LA. “This pool of pools provides an efficient mechanism for innovators with broad portfolios to get their technologies to the mass market and enables easy access to a broad range of necessary IP for implementors with diverse product offerings.”
“Our two teams share similar strategies, cultures, and business models, so I am confident this will be a smooth transition into an even more valuable, independently managed licensing solution for the IP industry,” said Larry Horn, CEO, MPEG LA.
Heath Hoglund, who was President of Via prior to the combination, will serve as President of Via LA. Larry Horn is retiring as CEO of MPEG LA but will continue to serve as an advisor to Via LA.
The new company’s worldwide headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in Denver, London, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Washington, DC.
About Via Licensing Alliance
Via LA is the collaborative licensing leader, dedicated to accelerating global technology adoption, fostering participation, and generating return on innovation with balanced licensing solutions for innovators and manufacturers of all sizes around the globe. Via LA has operated dozens of licensing programs for a variety of technologies consisting of nearly 50,000 patents in over 130 countries with more than 500 patent holders and nearly 10,000 licensees. Via LA is an independently managed subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, Inc., owned by industry-leading participants with over 25 years of intellectual property licensing leadership. For more information about Via LA, please visit www.Via-LA.com.