HEVC Advance standard essential patent owned by GE challenged as likely invalid

On January 29, 2019, as part of its ongoing efforts in its new SEP Video Codec Zone, Unified filed a petition for inter partes review (IPR) against U.S. Patent 9,729,891. The '891 patent is owned by GE Video Compression, LLC (GEVC) which is participating in the HEVC Advance patent pool (HEVC Advance patent list).

The ‘891 patent and its corresponding extended patent family is one of the largest families known to be owned by GEVC and represents approximately 13.6% of GEVC's known U.S. assets. The ’891 patent, originally assigned to Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, was transferred to GEVC in 2015.

HEVC Advance claims that certain claims of the '891 patent are essential to the HEVC standard. After conducting an independent analysis, Unified has determined that the ‘891 patent is likely unpatentable.

Unified is represented by Eric Buresh of Erise IP in this proceeding. Visit Unified’s Public Portal for more information about its Video Codec landscape (OPAL) and standard submission repository (OPEN). To read the petition and review the case record, view IPR2019-00617 on the Portal.

Developer Updates: Oct. 2018 - Jan. 2019

Patent research just got easier!

Here at Unified, we are constantly working to improve the PTAB, District Court and SEP-related data we provide on our public Portal. Here are a few of our recent additions to the site.

Portal Updates

• Case Status field updated for all PTAB cases

• New District Court Annual Litigation Report

• Increased customization options for CSV-exports

SEP Zone Updates

• Updated models for OPAL (HEVC/H.265) landscape

• Static URLs for OPAL

• Public version of OPAL available

• LTE landscape added to OPAL

Click the links above for more details or visit our Portal to start using these new features today!

Now Accepting Entries for the PALC 2019 Legal Writing Competition

Unified Patents and the American University Washington College of Law are pleased to present the PALC 2019 Legal Student Writing Competition. Current law students and recent graduates are encouraged to submit articles addressing the intersection of patent and administrative law. The first place winner will receive a $1,500 cash prize and may be invited to share his or her paper at the upcoming Ninth Annual Patent Administrative Law Conference co-hosted by Unified Patents, the Federal Circuit Bar Association, and the American University Washington College of Law.  The deadline for entry is March 15, 2019. For more details and for directions on how to enter, click the button below.

Adaptive power control patent added to PATROLL

On January 16, 2019, Unified added a $1,500 contest to PATROLL seeking prior art for US 7,100,061 owned by Semcon IP (an NPE). The '061 patent generally relates to methods and apparatuses for controlling the power used by a computer, and specifically, the adjustment of the clock frequency and voltage supply to a processor to conserve processor power and extend battery life.

The contest will expire on April 16, 2019. Please visit PATROLL for more information or to submit an entry for this contest. 

Digital camera patent added to PATROLL

On January 18, 2019, Unified added a $3,000 contest to PATROLL seeking prior art for US 6,611,289 owned by and asserted by Yanbin Yu and Zhongxuan Zhang. The '289 patent generally relates to using multiple lenses and digital sensors to capture two digital images of a scene, and using one of the digital images to enhance the other.

The contest will expire on April 17, 2019. Please visit PATROLL for more information or to submit an entry for this contest.