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Nero Files Antitrust Complaint Against MPEG-LA

Posted by Soulskill on from the hot-topics-getting-hotter dept.

hkmwbz writes "German technology company Nero AG has filed an antitrust complaint against the MPEG-LA, the company that manages the H.264 patent pool. Nero claims that the MPEG-LA has violated the law and achieved and abused 100% market share, by, among other things, using 'independent experts' that weren't independent after all, not weeding out non-essential patents from the pool (in fact, it has grown from the original 53 to more than 1,000), and retroactively changing previously-agreed-on license terms."

3 of 247 comments (clear)

  1. The supreme court would say MPeg LA is illegal by gr8_phk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The supreme court just ruled today that the NFL can't license the team trademarks collectively. It seems to me this should extend to any collective pool of IP - including patents. Each patent holder should have to license their patents individually.

    1. Re:The supreme court would say MPeg LA is illegal by Teancum · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The problem is the exclusive nature of the agreements signed by the various parties, where those joining the pool are barred by contract from joining another licensing pool. That is significant and may apply to the NFL as well if there were to be a team that would want to independently license its logos and mascots or team uniforms under a separate licensing agreement.

      It is this exclusive arrangement that is at the heart of the MPEG-LA lawsuit by Nero. The major media companies and consumer media equipment manufacturers certainly have been engaging in acts for some time that locks potential competitors out of the market for some time.

      It is good that this regime is being called on the carpet and being called exactly what it should be: A trust in the classic sense like the rail barons of a previous century were doing that caused the anti-trust legislation to be enacted in the first place. It is about bloody time!

  2. Re:MPEG_LA Isn't the devil by JAlexoi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That is the whole problem, because patents were not intended to be applied to users of said invention, but only to protect the inventor against copycats.