The Last MPEG-4 Visual Patent Has Expired

	The Last MPEG-4 Visual Patent Has Expired(phoronix.com)
	223 points by LorenDB 1 day ago \| 73 comments
	tl;dr: The last remaining MPEG-4 Part 2 patent, a Brazilian patent (BRPI0109962B1) covering image information processing, expired on 19 July 2026, according to the VIA Licensing Alliance. US and EU patents on MPEG-4 Visual had already lapsed in prior years, making the format now fully patent-free worldwide.
	HN Discussion: ~H.264 patents remain active and will likely be irrelevant by expiration due to newer codecs ↓Clarifies that MPEG-4 Part 2 is Xvid/DivX/H.263, not H.264, criticizing article's reporting ↑Nostalgic enthusiasm for the now-freed codec and hope for open source adoption ~Patents were practically irrelevant since Xvid/DivX were widely used and unenforced for decades •Curiosity about patent timing and questions about the specification process