DOJ Scrutiny Mounts for "Royalty-Free" Tech Standards Like AV1

The DOJ's increased focus on "royalty-free" standards challenges a core tenet of initiatives like AV1, suggesting that even ostensibly free technologies carry potential antitrust risks if they suppress fair compensation for patent holders. This could redefine how new video codecs and other foundational technologies are developed and adopted, shifting from broad "free" models towards more structured, FRAND-based (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) licensing. Companies relying on or contributing to such standards should monitor pending regulatory actions and legal challenges, as outcomes may necessitate re-evaluating IP strategies and licensing agreements for widespread technology adoption.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) views FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) licensing as an antitrust "safety valve" for standards development, allowing standards-setting organizations to operate without triggering antitrust liability (Patent Detectives, March 2026). This stance implies a preference for licensing frameworks that provide meaningful compensation to innovators, potentially indicating that royalty-free models may not offer the same competitive equilibrium as FRAND-based frameworks.

This regulatory focus coincides with increasing legal challenges to AV1's "royalty-free" claim. Dolby Laboratories, Inc. sued Snap Inc. in March 2026, alleging AV1 infringes on its patents and asserting Dolby made no FRAND or royalty-free commitments for AV1. Dolby is seeking injunctive relief and damages, arguing that AV1 reuses concepts from HEVC, for which licensing is generally required (Ars Technica, March 2026; Streaming Learning Center, March 2026). This suggests that the absence of a FRAND commitment provides patent holders with significantly more leverage in seeking injunctions and increased damages, as exemplified by a non-FRAND H.264 patent in Optis v. Huawei, which saw a jury award nearly three times the damages of FRAND-committed patents in the same trial (Streaming Learning Center, March 2026).

Separately, InterDigital is also suing over AV1, accusing some Amazon Fire streaming devices of patent infringement (Ars Technica, March 2026). These lawsuits, particularly Dolby's against Snap, could significantly impact AV1 adoption, which already lags behind HEVC eight years after its release. While the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) developed AV1 with a "royalty-free patent policy," external patent holders dispute this, leading to the creation of AV1-related patent license pools by administrators like Access Advance and Sisvel Group, despite AOMedia's objections (Ars Technica, March 2026).

The DOJ is expected to release a joint statement with the USPTO outlining SEP policy guidance, which will provide a more comprehensive view of the U.S. government's coordinated approach to standard essential patents (Patent Detectives, March 2026). This guidance will likely clarify conditions under which FRAND commitments are deemed sufficient for antitrust protection and how the agencies will address royalty-free frameworks. These developments underscore a growing tension between the open-source, royalty-free ideal and the realities of existing intellectual property rights and antitrust regulations in the highly complex streaming technology landscape.