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THE OPUS PATENT POOL
NTT Joins Vectis Opus Patent Pool
LONDON (November 11, 2024) – Vectis IP Ltd. (“Vectis”) today announced that Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (“NTT”) has joined the Opus Patent Pool as a licensor. The patent pool license covers the Opus interactive speech and audio codec, as defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force.
Together with audio pioneers, Dolby Laboratories and Fraunhofer IIS, Vectis IP has created an Opus Patent Pool to offer manufacturers/sellers of end-user hardware devices, like Smartphones, Tablets, PCs, Smart TVs, Smart Speakers, Consoles, and IP Phones, a route to efficiently license patents essential to the Opus Codec on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
The pool administrator, Vectis IP, is a UK-based IP and technology licensing company. Vectis IP supports a level playing field for IP owners and implementers and is dedicated to finding collaborative and balanced licensing solutions. With a global reach, its seasoned management team has led the formation and management of many patent pools and programs in Telecommunications and Consumer Electronics. Currently, Vectis IP is working on multiple programs covering audio, video, communications, e-commerce, and networking technologies.
The Opus pool license covers the specifications for an interactive speech and audio codec, including both encoder and decoder, defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (“IETF”) pursuant to its Request for Comment (“RFC”) 6716, RFC 8251 and RFC 8486, and the official software releases of the Opus audio codec, up to and including official software version 1.3.1 released on April 2019, made available at https://opus-codec.org
The Opus codec is deployed across communications and streaming services, and consumer devices including Smartphones, Tablets, PCs, Smart TVs, Smart Speakers, Consoles, and IP Phones. Opus adds value to these products. Whether making internet calls, watching videos, listening to podcasts, or streaming music, users may enjoy these experiences utilizing the Opus codec.
The Opus program will not be directed toward open source Software, Apps, or Contents, that are distributed by developers or providers independently from a hardware device.