Navigating the Next Era of Video-Codec Licensing Disputes

Cornerstone authors analyze video-codec SEP disputes, multi-pool licensing, patent litigation, and shifting FRAND antitrust policies in video streaming.

In “Video Streaming and Smartphones: The New Frontier of SEP Disputes,” Kirti Gupta, Georgios Effraimidis, and Elias Ilin discuss how the rapid expansion of global video streaming has ignited a new era of standard-essential patent (SEP) disputes, echoing the earlier cellular wars, but unfolding in a distinct and still-forming licensing environment. Video compression standards, which enable the efficient transmission and storage of high-resolution digital media, sit at the center of today’s intersection of intellectual property and antitrust law. This article examines the expanding video-codec patent landscape, the complexities of multi-pool licensing, the rise of multi-jurisdictional enforcement battles, and evolving regulatory frameworks shaping FRAND outcomes.

Key Takeaways

• Fragmented Licensing Infrastructure: Licensing has shifted from a single dominant pool toward a patchwork of competing pools and independent licensors, and royalty demands now reach beyond device makers to streaming platforms, content distributors, and cloud service providers.
• Surge in Global Litigation: Disputes such as Nokia–Amazon, InterDigital–Disney, and Velos Media–TikTok span the U.S., Europe, Brazil, and Asia, with procedural tools like anti-suit and anti-anti-suit injunctions now central to the contest over which court sets global FRAND rates.
• Evolving Antitrust Policy: Regulatory guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has moved toward a neutral, case-specific framework that views IP and antitrust as complementary tools for advancing innovation rather than presuming hold-up or hold-out. This same scrutiny extends to royalty-free standards like AV1, which U.S. and EU regulators have flagged as a potential competitive concern.
• Necessity of Rigorous Valuation: As licensing fragments, coherent and economically grounded Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) valuation becomes essential to balance returns on technological innovation with accessible implementation costs.

This article was originally published by the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Law Section’s Antitrust Source in June 2026.