As OTT Viewing Increases, KAIST Hits Jackpot... Patent Revenue Surpasses 10 Billion Won

Achievement of H.265 Patent Adoption as an International Standard Patent

As video compression technology, essential for watching videos on TV or online video services (OTT), was recognized as an international standard patent, a domestic university secured a large-scale patent income.

KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, President Lee Kwang-hyung) announced on the 2nd that the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) video compression technology patent, promoted by the Technology Value Creation Center, has surpassed a cumulative royalty income of 10 billion KRW since being registered as a core international standard patent.

In particular, more than half of the total income, 5.4 billion KRW, was generated this year alone. Seo Jong-mo, a professor specializing in industry-academia cooperation at the Technology Value Creation Center, explained, "Patent big deals including Samsung Electronics, Google, Amazon, and Apple have been concluded, causing a rapid increase in income."

HEVC (H.265) is an international technical standard created to efficiently compress large-capacity video data with UHD ultra-high-definition resolution. It can be applied to various ultra-high-definition videos such as TV and broadcasting, smartphones, action cams, CCTV, and real-time streaming.

This patent was registered in the international standard patent pool in 2014 by KAIST together with Columbia University in the United States. A total of 246 standard patents were secured, including devices and software for compressing and decompressing digital video.

Technologies registered as standard patents can dominate related markets and gain an advantage in next-generation technology competition, leading countries around the world to fiercely compete to secure standard patents.

KAIST established a standardization strategy through thorough patent analysis and proposed its technologies to multiple standard patent pools, achieving recognition as a core patent of the international video compression standard.

Lee Geon-jae, Director of the Technology Value Creation Center, stated, “KAIST will rise as a mecca for university technology transfer by intensively investing in standard patents, 5G·6G communications, bio·pharmaceuticals, and quantum·AI semiconductors through the newly established Technology Transfer Headquarters.”