Context: Adoption of the ATSC 3.0 video transmission standard for terrestrial television broadcasting is steadily increasing around the globe. South Korea was the first to adopt it in 2016, launching 4K ATSC 3.0 broadcasts in May 2017 that now reach more than 80% of the country. Meanwhile, in the U.S., broadcasters are working together to bring ATSC 3.0 to audiences across the country, currently targeting markets that will reach more than 80% of the public (ATSC deployment). In March 2023, Avanci launched a patent program covering the ATSC 3.0 standard, with major patentees such as ETRI, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Panasonic, and Sun Patent Trust onboard (March 7, 2023 Avanci press release). This came after MPEG LA (prior to its merger with Via Licensing) had already launched a patent pool fully dedicated to ATSC 3.0 a year prior, with 13 licensors onboard, including the likes of Sun Patent Trust, Philips, Dolby Laboratories, and Japan’s Panasonic and NEC Corporation. In September 2023, Chinese TV manufacturer TCL joined the pool as a licensee (September 18, 2023 Via LA press release).
What’s new: TCL has now also joined the pool as a licensor after purchasing ATSC 3.0 standard-essential patents (SEPs) from U.S.-based RTEM, which specializes in developing technologies related to digital broadcasting and broadband communications. PurpleVine IP, a Chinese IP service provider, helped broker the SEP acquisition for TCL, which enabled the company to join the pool. TCL’s participation as a licensor also comes after the Korea Electronics Technology Institute joined as a licensor and Panasonic (already a licensor) joined as a licensee earlier this month.
Direct impact and wider ramifications: This move makes TCL the ATSC 3.0 patent pool’s second Chinese licensor, with the Shanghai National Engineering Research Center of Digital Television Co., Ltd already onboard from the day of its launch. The standard is not currently being used in China, making it quite rare for companies based there to own that tech. For, TCL, however, which sells TVs all over the world (including in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico and India, where the ATSC 3.0 is increasingly being adopted), “it was in the company’s interest to be able to license out a technology they also implement”, according to Via LA’s President Heath Hoglund.
In a statement today, Mr. Hoglund said:
“TCL is one of the largest television manufacturers in the world. We are pleased to welcome them into our ATSC 3.0 patent pool as a licensor, which has grown over the last two years to include 18 others. Our ATSC 3.0 pool continues to show positive momentum not just with licensors but also with licensees. This is the result of the Via team’s continued efforts to engage both innovators and implementors in China and around the world.”
PurpleVine IP chairman and CEO Victor Yang said the company sees this as a “beneficial arrangement for TCL, whose business will be strongly linked to the ATSC 3.0 standard.”
Prior to founding PurpleVine in 2018, Mr. Yang was Vice President and Global General Counsel at TCL. He added:
“The addition of a major manufacturer in the space, such as TCL, will also be a major value-add for Via LA’s patent pool.”
Daniel Fu, TCL’s General Counsel, emphasized that this further collaboration supports the growth of the patent licensing and advances technology adoption across the global ecosystem.
This deal comes off the back of a relatively busy Q1 2025 for Via LA. In February, the company announced a strategic partnership with ULDAGE, a Japanese patent pool administrator that mainly focuses on digital broadcasting and emerging sectors (like EV charging), to help expand Via LA’s EV Charging patent pool in Japan (February 18, 2025 ip fray article). During Via LA’s Business Summit in Shanghai, Huawei also announced it was joining their High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)/Versatile Video Coding patent pool as both a VVC licensor and licensee (March 20, 2025 ip fray article).
These developments were followed by an action filed by three Via LA licensors in the Landgericht Dusseldorf (Düsseldorf Regional Court) against Microsoft, enforcing seven HEVC SEPs and seeking an injunction (April 7, 2025 ip fray article).