MEDIA & PUBLICATIONS

Context:

• The Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) pool run by Via Licensing Alliance has a high market penetration rate. For mobile devices it is estimated to be approximately 80%, with Honor having been announced a licensee last month (March 9, 2026 ip fray article).
• HMD is not a licensee, and is (to put it mildly) usually not among the first companies to take a patent license, whether from a pool or bilaterally, and the disproportionate litigation expenses it incurs defending against standard-essential patent (SEP) actions has given rise to “stalking horse” speculations. Due to earlier patent injunctions, HMD has left the Brazilian market. To the extent that its products are still available, they are imported by third parties. At a recent hearing, it showed no desire to appeal a preliminary injunction (PI) obtained by Via licensor NEC over an AAC patent (April 13, 2026 ip fray article).

Read more at: ip fray

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