The Last MPEG-4 Visual Patent Has Expired

The last patent covering the MPEG-4 Part 2 format, also known as MPEG-4 Visual, has expired today.

The news was reported by Phoronix, which noted the occasion as cause for celebration among free-software advocates.

As of now, every patent that once applied to this video format has ceased to be in force. This means that MPEG-4 Visual technology becomes entirely free of patent restrictions and passes into the public domain.

MPEG-4 Part 2 was in its day one of the widely used video formats, employed across a variety of codecs and software solutions. For a long time, the presence of patent royalties remained a factor affecting its use in open-source projects.

The source provided does not give details about the specific patents or their terms.

Source: Phoronix