EPO study reveals courts favor comparable analysis for streaming standard patents

The streaming industry is currently the primary battleground for standard essential patent (SEP) litigation, as the adoption of newer video codecs like HEVC and VVC outpaces established licensing consensus. By documenting a judicial preference for comparable-licence analysis, the EPO provides a clearer roadmap for valuation in multi-jurisdictional disputes. This clarity is essential for streaming platforms frequently targeted by patent pools and independent licensors, as it reduces the unpredictability of FRAND negotiations. For the ecosystem, this methodology stabilizes the financial risk associated with codec transitions. Stakeholders should monitor the Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre of the Unified Patent Court, as it will likely use these identified methodologies to settle emerging video standard disputes.

The EPO study arrives as video codec litigation becomes the dominant theme in intellectual property disputes. Per Cornerstone Research in March 2026, litigated SEPs declared to video standards rose 263% between 2020 and 2025, significantly outpacing the growth of traditional cellular patent litigation. This surge is driven by the implementation of High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) and the emerging Versatile Video Coding (VVC) standard across streaming hardware and software services. While older standards like AVC (H.264) were largely managed through a single primary patent pool, the newer codec landscape is more fragmented, involving multiple competing pools and independent licensors.

Several landmark cases in late 2025 and 2026 have already tested these licensing frameworks. In June 2026, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Mannheim Local Division ruled in InterDigital v. Disney that specific video encoding patents did not qualify as SEPs, thereby exempting them from FRAND obligations. This highlights a critical distinction in the market: while decoding methods are typically essential to standard compliance (and thus subject to FRAND), encoding optimizations are increasingly viewed as proprietary innovations. Meanwhile, companies like Roku and Hisense have settled protracted HEVC disputes by joining patent pools managed by Access Advance, which acquired the administrator of Via Licensing Alliance's video pools in December 2025 to create a more consolidated licensing destination.

Regulatory efforts in Europe remain in flux. Although the European Commission initially proposed a new SEP regulation aiming for higher transparency through mandatory essentiality checks, that proposal was formally withdrawn in October 2025 amid intense opposition from patent holders. According to reports from Pinsent Masons and Juve Patent, the European Parliament continues to challenge this withdrawal before the EU Court of Justice. In the absence of a legislative mandate, the industry relies on judicial studies like this EPO report and the procedural guidance emerging from the UPC to navigate the high-stakes cost of video compression technology.