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One question that's been bugging more with regard to these older encumbered standards as we get into the 2020s: does anyone know if there has been an exhaustive
by xoa 6y ago
One question that's been bugging more with regard to these older encumbered standards as we get into the 2020s: does anyone know if there has been an exhaustive search of when they go patent free? H.264 Version 1 was 2003, and Version 3 (which added the high profiles, so it's probably by far the most common by this point) was 2005. So worst-case scenario, we're 3-5 years from any possible patent being expired. But in most cases standards patents have priority dates at least a year or two before, because negotiations happen well before standard official finalization (first draft in this case was sometime in 1999 or 2000 IIRC) and patent holders who try to keep it a secret and apply at the last moment risk getting cut out or having someone else come up with it and neutralize them.
I remember a lot of people were watching for when MP3 went patent free, and it'd be interesting if there was a site keeping track of when some of these other still commonly used standards did the same. Patents last relatively way too long in the tech world, but even here it's not forever.
- est31 6y agohttps://www.osnews.com/story/24954/us-patent-expiration-for-mp3-mpeg-2-h264/ https://www.osnews.com/story/24954/us-patent-expiration-for-... > H.264 is a newer video codec. The standard first came out in 2003, but continues to evolve. An automatically generated patent expiration list is available at H.264 Patent List based on the MPEG-LA patent list. The last expiration is US 7826532 on 29 nov 2027 ( note that 7835443 is divisional, but the automated program missed that). US 7826532 was first filed in 05 sep 2003 and has an impressive 1546 day extension. It will be a while before H.264 is patent free. The automatically generated list that this quote talks about also lists US 7835443, which expires in 2028...
- hedora 6y agoSurely the publication of the standard 17 years ago constitutes public disclosure and/or prior work. Using extensions to increase the working lifespan of a patent to 25 years (as done here, apparently) really shouldn’t be allowed. It’s one thing if the work is under development during filing or something, but we’re talking about an openly published standardized technology. Patent lifespan should be limited to the minimum of 17 years from filing (or maybe grant date), and 17 years from publication/commercialization.
- grishka 6y agoPatent term should vary based on the field. In IT, let it be like 5 years. Maybe less. 20 feels like an eternity. And no extensions, ever. If you missed, well, congratulations, you failed, now someone else will implement it and make the world better anyway.
- userbinator 6y agoI believe H.261, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (H.262), and possibly H.263 patents have expired now. MPEG-4 (DivX and such) is going to be next to expire before H.264.