The patent claims were analyzed, starting by mapping them against the latest version of the VVC standard. Despite an exhaustive review of the 2023 VVC specifications, several key claim elements were not directly reflected in the standard, raising concerns about the patent’s essentiality.

To deepen the assessment, we extended the investigation by reviewing the Joint Video Exploration Team (JVET) meeting documents. These documents revealed that the concept of “virtual merge candidates” discussed in the patent had been proposed but later excluded from the VVC standard. In JVET Meeting M0272 (October 2018), the idea of virtual merge candidates was initially explored but eventually discarded in later iterations of the VVC specifications.

This investigation provided evidence that the technology claimed in the patent, while once considered, was ultimately not essential for VVC compliance. This thorough approach allowed the client to avoid investing in licensing a non-essential patent, potentially saving millions in licensing costs.