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MPEG LA, an organization that licenses digital video technology patents on behalf of their owners, has announced terms for using a 3D video encoding technology called MVC.

MVC (Multiview Video Coding) is used in Blu-ray disc players, personal computers, video cameras, software, and other situations calling for 3D video. It's what's known as a codec, a specification for encoding and decoding video so it can be stored more compactly or streamed more efficiently across networks.

MPEG LA debuted the MVC license agreement terms at the Asia-Pacific 3D Standards & IP (Intellectual Property) Forum in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday. … Read more

The correspondence between Apple and Proview Technology chronicling what looks very much like the successful sale of the iPad trademark between the two companies has made its way into the wild.

Fifteen pages that include e-mails between Proview and IP Application Development Limited (the U.K.-based firm that bought the name off Proview), were posted this afternoon by All Things D.

The files are in conjunction with a Hong Kong court decision from July of last year, wherein the judge sided with Apple, saying the company continued to own the rights to the iPad trademark in the country.

In … Read more

Intel is buying video patents and software from RealNetworks for $120 million, giving the chipmaker new muscle in a market that's increasingly important but filled with intellectual-property obstacles.

RealNetworks is selling about 190 patents, 170 patent applications, and its next-generation video encoding technology in the deal, the companies announced today.

Intel called some of the patents "foundational," indicating its belief that some are important to the ever-hotter area of digital video. Codecs such as H.264 or Google's VP8 are used to encode and decode video, a task that's crucial in videoconferencing, gaming, and entertainment. … Read more

Authorities arrested a computer programmer today and charged him with stealing source code worth $9.5 million from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Bo Zhang, 32, is accused of taking the software last summer while he was working as a contract employee assigned to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Zhang allegedly admitted that in July 2011 he checked out and copied the code onto an external hard drive and on to his own computers, according to the complaint unsealed today. He said he used the code in connection with a computer programming training company he operated, … Read more

Hoping to aid fancy typography on the Web, font powerhouse Monotype Imaging has released technology called MicroType Express (MTX) so it's free for public use, CNET has learned.

MTX is patented compression technology that shrinks font download sizes, hastening the moment when a person can see a Web page with its intended typography, but Monotype Imaging is releasing the technology under very liberal licensing terms. Microsoft licensed MTX for use in Internet Explorer, and now Monotype has won over another major browser maker, Google, the companies plan to announce today.

With its "make the Web faster" initiative, … Read more

Accessory maker M-Edge is suing Amazon, claiming the online retailer bullied it into making less profitable deals while infringing on its intellectual property.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Maryland last week and picked up by the Wall Street Journal, alleges that Amazon repeatedly tried to change the terms in a 2009 contract between the two companies.

"This case presents a classic example of unlawful corporate bullying," the suit reads. "M-Edge developed a very successful product line: personal electronic device jackets with multiple features for the Kindle and other e-readers. Amazon thereafter repeatedly sought to hijack the … Read more

Hollywood's lobbyists have launched a bold new anti-piracy offensive in Washington that will face strong opposition from Internet companies and users who worry it goes too far and jeopardizes free speech rights.

A dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives today announced they've jointly introduced a new bill intended to make allegedly copyright-infringing Web sites, sometimes called "rogue" Web sites, virtually disappear from the Internet.

The bill, called the Stop Online Piracy Act (PDF)--although because the sponsors dubbed the Web-blocking portions the "E-PARASITE Act," it's likely to become known by … Read more

The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, also known as the latest version of the patent reform bill, was approved by the U.S. Senate today. The legislation now heads to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The bill, which Bloomberg reports as having passed 89-9 today, is the fourth such attempt to reform patent legislation in the U.S., following similar proposals in 2005, 2007, and 2009. It was approved by the House in late June.

Among the major changes in the legislation is turning the U.S. patent system into a first-to-file patent system as opposed to a first-to-invent system. … Read more

Twelve organizations have concluded that Google's VP8 video encoding technology violates their patents, according to a group called MPEG LA that's considering offering a license to those patents.

"Patents owned by 12 different patent holders have already been found to be essential to VP8," MPEG LA said in a statement to CNET yesterday.

This is a concrete data point in a debate that's lasted more than a year so far about how safe Google's technology is to use without fear of infringement litigation. Previously, MPEG LA had only offered the more limited statement that … Read more