Context:
- Seoul-based Intellectual Discovery was originally founded in 2010 as a government-sponsored sovereign patent fund operator, but hopes to soon gain enough capital to become one of the world’s top three IP monetisation players. The non-practising entity (NPE) is headed up by Executive Vice President Dongsuk Bae, and is seeking to go public on the KOSDAQ market by 2027. It is an active patent enforcer, with its disputes against Nokia and Ericsson involving 5G standard-essential patents (SEPs) both ending in patent licensing agreements in December 2024.
- The Qi standard, developed by the Wireless Power Consortium, has become a universal technology across smartphones, wearables, and vehicles. The latest Qi 2.0 version, incorporating Apple’s MagSafe-based Magnetic Power Profile, offers enhanced charging efficiency and user convenience. Via Licensing Alliance (LA) launched a dedicated Qi Wireless patent pool in January 2020, and is currently the only operator that offers a license of this kind.
What’s new: Intellectual Discovery joined Via LA’s Qi pool as a licensor, effective as of November 1, 2025. One of the key reasons it joined the patent pool, Dongsuk Bae told ip fray, is because a major company recently agreed to join as a licensee. The company is contributing a patent that covers key communication technologies that enhance the efficiency and stability of wireless charging systems by integrating in-band communication through power coils with out-of-band control using Bluetooth or NFC. The patent, which was co-developed with the Korea Electronics Technology Institute, is one of up to six that Intellectual Discovery plans to license through Via LA’s Qi Wireless pool.
Direct impact: The new addition is an asset to Via LA, which also celebrated a major win for its Qi pool earlier this month, when the Unified Patent Court’s (UPC’s) Court of Appeal (CoA) largely upheld and in part strengthened the Munich Local Division’s (LD) first-ever SEP injunction against Belkin (in favor of Philips: October 3, 2025 ip fray article). It also marks the third South Korean company to join Via LA’s Qi Wireless pool this year, after LG Electronics (May 28, 2025 ip fray article) and Korean automotive supplier BH EVS (September 4, 2025 ip fray article). These new licensors also underscore Via LA’s continued efforts to expand in Asia – as head of programs, Willy Chang, told ip fray last year, China, Japan and South Korea may be Via LA’s “strongest geographies” (December 10, 2024 ip fray article).
Wider ramifications: The deal is also good news for Intellectual Discovery, which has launched (via its subsidiaries) a wide-ranging patent enforcement campaign in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, targeting Big Tech companies Nvidia in March over a GPU-related patent, Apple in August over voice recognition-related patents, Google and Tesla, as well as in the Central District of California against Microsoft over optical disk drive patents. Its subsidiary GXD-Bio Corporation also asserted patents against rival Myriad International GmbH in the UPC’s Munich LD – a hearing is due to take place in the case on November 18, 2025.
In a statement today, Via LA’s President Heath Hoglund said the company is pleased to welcome Intellectual Discovery as a licensor to the Qi Wireless pool. This, alongside several new entrants joining in recent months, underscores that Via is the “one-stop solution” for companies delivering Qi-enabled products, he noted, adding:
“The addition of Intellectual Discovery expands our already robust collaboration with IP companies in East Asia, where we continue to see significant market growth.”
Mr. Bae also said in a statement that this deal “clearly” demonstrates that Korea’s IP can achieve both “technological excellence” and the dual goals of standardization and monetization.
Intellectual Discovery currently manages around 2,000 granted patents globally, although it sold around 200 of its Versatile Video Coding-related patents to Dolby earlier this year. It is also heavily involved in AI-related research and development, and recently entered into a strategic partnership with Silicon Valley-based AI company OneTransform in the field of AI patent solutions.