Access Advance also said 12 patent holders, including Sharp, M&K Holdings and Tagivan, joined its Video Distribution Patent Pool in the first half of 2026, broadening coverage for streaming media licensing.
Access Advance said Samsung Electronics and Sharp Corporation have joined its VVC Advance Patent Pool as both licensors and licensees, while 12 patent holders including Sharp Corporation, M&K Holdings Inc. and Tagivan II LLC have also joined its Video Distribution Patent Pool in the first half of 2026. The company said Samsung’s addition as a VVC Advance licensee lifts the pool’s roster of major smartphone brands to six: Honor, Huawei, Oppo, Samsung, vivo, and Xiaomi. Access Advance said those VVC Advance licensees together account for an estimated 62% of the global smartphone market, which it presented as evidence that VVC is gaining traction as a next-generation codec for mobile devices. On the VVC Advance side, Access Advance previously said six companies joined as licensees since the beginning of 2026: American Future Technology Corp. d/b/a iBuypower, CyberPower Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Sichuan Changhong NeoNet Technologies Co., Ltd., and TIGERSECU, Inc. It also said five new licensors joined that pool in the first half of 2026: Samsung Electronics, Sharp Corporation, Vidaxio LLC, Mirage Inc., and Telechips, Inc. Separately, Access Advance said the Video Distribution Patent Pool added Digital Insights Inc., Hanbat National University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Hanwha Vision Co., Ltd., Industry-Academy Cooperation Foundation of Sejong University, M&K Holdings Inc., Mirage Inc., Sharp Corporation, SK Planet Co., Ltd., Tagivan II LLC, Telechips, Inc., Vidaxio LLC, and Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co., Ltd. as licensors in the first half of 2026. Chief Executive Officer Peter Moller said the additions strengthen the pool’s position in addressing licensing issues tied to modern video codecs used across internet video streaming business models. Access Advance manages patent pools for major video codec technologies including HEVC/H.265 and VVC/H.266, offers a Multi-Codec Bridging Agreement with discounted royalty terms for eligible licensees in both pools, and runs the Video Distribution Patent Pool covering HEVC, VVC, VP9 and AV1 codecs for streaming services.