Sisvel
More info
- Creator
- Roberto Dini
- Released
- 1982
- Type
- Patent pool administrator
An Italian company that bundles other people's patents into pools and sells the licenses, from MP3 to Wi-Fi.
Founded in Italy in 1982, Sisvel is, alongside MPEG LA, the best-known administrator of patent pools. The business model is to gather standard-essential patents from many owners and sell a single per-unit license. It handled MP3 licensing during the format's heyday, along with the DVB-T digital TV standard and, later, Wi-Fi 6 and cellular IoT.
Its methods have not always been subtle. In 2008, German customs seized MP3 players from exhibitors at CeBIT following action on Sisvel's behalf. In 2019 the company launched a pool for AV1 and VP9, codecs their creators had explicitly released as royalty-free. It was a reminder that a patent pledge only binds the party that makes it.