Avanci Wi-Fi

New generations of Wi-Fi technologies are driven by standardization. These next generation Wi-Fi standards enable faster data transfer speeds, lower latency, and higher capacity than previous Wi-Fi generations, designed for high-bandwidth environments.

Standards are developed when technology experts at various companies contribute their new inventions to a technology standard that can be implemented by the entire industry in an open manner. In order to recoup its R&D investment, the contributing company typically patents these inventions. Through a consensus-driven process among industry experts that participate in the standard setting process, the best technologies rise to the top, ultimately becoming part of a new standard.

When a new invention becomes part of a standard, a patent covering that invention is referred to as standard-essential patent. A standard-essential patent is evaluated and granted by a national patent office just like any other patent. What makes it a standard-essential patent is that the invention covered by the patent must be used when implementing the standard.

The Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle license program offers a license to essential patents owned by participating patent owners relating to the standard used for Wi-Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax). Our license covers all the essential patents for the Wi-Fi 6 standard that are owned by the patent owners that have joined our platform, whenever they join, including any such patents they develop or acquire during the term of the license.

The platform currently licenses the essential patents of the licensors listed above and we expect to add more patent owners in the future.

Because each generation of Wi-Fi standards is backward compatible with the previous generations, an Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle license also includes a covenant from the licensors that they will not assert patents essential to earlier Wi-Fi standards, such as Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5, against licensed Wi-Fi 6 vehicles. Along with Avanci’s definitional approach to licensing (see below), this provides additional assurance to automakers who have an Avanci Wi-Fi 6 license that they will not face Wi-Fi SEP assertions from licensors participating in the Avanci Wi-Fi platform.

No, Avanci does not publish a list of licensed patents. We take a definitional approach to SEP licensing. The licensed patents include all essential Wi-Fi 6 patent claims owned or licensable by the licensors at any time during the applicable license term.

Avanci uses this broad approach to defining the patented technology covered by the license for several reasons:

• There are thousands of Wi-Fi SEPs, and the patenting process and standardization process are both dynamic. Because new SEPs are regularly granted to Avanci Wi-Fi licensors, because the standards develop and change, and because new SEP owners regularly join Avanci as licensors, maintaining an up-to-date, comprehensive, and accurate list of all licensed patents would not be practical, feasible, or efficient.
• The definitional approach allows the Avanci Wi-Fi license to be as comprehensive as possible. It covers all standard essential patent claims whether they are listed or not. And the license is also “sticky,” meaning that any licensed patent included in the license remains licensed to a licensee throughout the license term, even if the patent is sold, assigned, or otherwise transferred to a third party after the effective date of the license.
• New essential patents acquired by or issued to a licensor during the term of the agreement are automatically covered by the license, so the scope of the license grows at no additional cost to the licensee.

In our experience, licensees often obtain information about an individual licensor’s essential patents directly from the licensor. Additionally, upon request by a licensee, Avanci will use commercially reasonable efforts to inform the licensee whether a specific patent claim is a licensed patent.

Yes. To be eligible to join Avanci programs as a licensor, a patent holder must submit a claim chart to Avanci. The patent holder is eligible to join if at least one patent claim is found to be essential. After a SEP holder becomes a licensor, it may submit additional claim charts to Avanci for evaluation as part of the royalty allocation system.

We work with a worldwide network of independent patent evaluators who evaluate submitted claim charts for essentiality to a relevant standard. In this way, we ensure that each Avanci licensor owns at least one relevant SEP. We closely monitor and administer this process to ensure consistency and objectivity across evaluators and jurisdictions.

Over the last number of years, the Avanci licensing platforms’ worldwide network of independent patent evaluators have evaluated thousands of claim charts for essentiality as part of our royalty allocation methodology. Given that there are potentially thousands of Wi-Fi 6 and 7 SEPs, it would be impractical and inefficient to evaluate a claim chart for every essential patent claim included in an Avanci license; however our process ensures that hundreds of patent families will be assessed to ensure there is at least one evaluated SEP in the patent family.

The independent patent evaluators are both experts with respect to the related technologies and patent attorneys qualified in the jurisdiction relevant for the claim chart being analyzed. Avanci does not disclose the identity of patent evaluators to licensors and ensures no conflicts of interest exist. Not all patent claims submitted to Avanci are found to be essential.

Regarding Avanci Wi-Fi Platform’s Wi-Fi 6 Vehicles license program, companies that offer Wi-Fi 6 compliant vehicles for sale have the option to take a license from Avanci’s Wi-Fi 6 Vehicles license program. If you offer a Wi-Fi 6 compliant vehicle for sale or are in the process of bringing a new Wi-Fi 6 compliant vehicle to market, you should contact us to learn more about the Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle license.

The Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle license program licenses the standard essential technology that is necessary when utilizing Wi-Fi 6 in a vehicle. A license under the Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle program covers the Wi-Fi 6 standard essential patent portfolio from patent owners already participating in the Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle license program, plus the Wi-Fi 6 standard essential patents of new licensors that join such program in the future. As a result, an Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle licensee does not need to negotiate individual license agreements with the participating licensors for the same patents.

When considering the price of an Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle license, it is important to consider how our license option differs from a bilateral license between a single SEP owner and a single licensee.

• Bilateral license: A single patent holder and a single company agree on a set of license terms and conditions for a license under the patent holder’s patents for the company’s Wi-Fi 6 Vehicles. The terms and conditions of the license are often reached after the patent holder and company have exchanged technical and business information, such as patent lists, claim charts, and past and projected sales revenues.
• Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle license: A Wi-Fi 6 compliant vehicle manufacturer agrees to a joint license under the combined SEP portfolios of the participating licensors covering the global sales of Wi-Fi 6 compliant vehicles by the manufacturer and its affiliates. The price of an Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle license does not vary by geography, size, or profitability of the licensee. We offer the same pricing to any Wi-Fi 6 compliant vehicle manufacturer regardless of where they are headquartered. This transparent universal pricing is a key feature of Avanci Wi-Fi that creates a level playing field for all licensees.

To arrive at the terms and conditions of the Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle license, including the price, Avanci has engaged individually with potential licensors and potential licensees. We have sought input on the value that the licensed essential technology will confer on a Wi-Fi compliant vehicle and – importantly – on the terms and conditions (including but not limited to the price) that are likely to attract a critical mass of licensors while still being widely acceptable to licensees. Avanci does not seek or collect information about royalty rates offered by the licensors in their bilateral licensing discussions with licensees. The price of an Avanci Wi-Fi 6 license is not calculated based on an estimated total “stack” or “aggregate” royalty that a licensee would pay if it licensed each licensor’s licensed patents through separate bilateral agreements.

Yes. We work with licensors and licensees to determine the existence of any separate licenses between a licensor and a licensee that overlaps with the Avanci Wi-Fi license. When we are instructed to do so, we credit the licensee for the portion of the royalties that would otherwise be distributed to the licensor if there was no separate overlapping license. Alternately, the licensor and licensee may agree to another means to resolve the overlapping license, outside of Avanci.

Avanci Wi-Fi provides a worldwide license to make use of the Wi-Fi 6 standard.

The latest Wi-Fi technologies have substantially improved data transfer rates, and latency compared to the Wi-Fi standards of only a few years ago, enabling the emergence of Wi-Fi related services in new products, such as vehicles. Given the complexities of the patent-licensing process, it can be difficult for auto companies providing Wi-Fi 6 connected vehicles to know which patents are essential and how to license them.

Avanci has witnessed first-hand how its existing 4G and 5G vehicle licensing programs transformed the licensing industry and facilitated the adoption of cellular standards in vehicles with an efficient and simple licensing approach. We have heard from several existing licensees in our cellular licensing programs that they would welcome an analogous solution in the Wi-Fi space.

Avanci Wi-Fi makes the process of securing a license to use the Wi-Fi 6 technology easy and simplifies the adoption of the newest and most efficient Wi-Fi technologies. Our one-stop platform offers Wi-Fi 6 compliant vehicle manufacturers a license to the patented essential technologies needed from multiple licensors under a single agreement without the need for time-consuming individual negotiations with patent owners.

We welcome you to join us, and many other industry-leading innovators, to make your patented Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7 inventions available to companies implementing these standards in their products. Avanci Wi-Fi connects patent owners and Wi-Fi implementers in one platform, without the need for complex negotiations. This speeds up the process of securing technology rights for new products while ensuring patent owners receive a fair return on their R&D investment.

Please contact us to learn more about licensing your Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7 standard-essential patents through the Avanci Wi-Fi platform.

Yes. Your Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle license from Avanci Wi-Fi will automatically include patent owners’ existing patents essential to the Wi-Fi 6 standard, as well as (i) any Wi-Fi 6 standard essential patents that the patent owners develop or acquire during the term of your license, and (ii) the Wi-Fi 6 standard essential patents of any new patent owners who join the Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle license program during the license term. The same will be true of the Avanci Wi-Fi 7 Vehicles program when Avanci launches that program.