Access Advance LLC and Alibaba Group today announced that Alibaba has joined the Access Advance Video Distribution Patent Pool (VDP Pool) as a Licensee, securing a license to the pool’s comprehensive coverage of HEVC, VVC, VP9, and AV1 codec technologies. The announcement marks a milestone in a multi-year collaboration between the two companies that spans the VVC Advance Patent Pool, where Alibaba participates as both a Licensor and Licensee, and the VDP Pool, where Alibaba joined as a Licensor in 2025. Alibaba’s subsidiary Youku, one of China’s leading streaming platforms, also joined the VDP Pool as a Licensee in 2025.
Alibaba operates one of the world’s most diverse video ecosystems, spanning a wide range of video-based services across e-commerce, entertainment, and digital media. As video has become central to how consumers shop, communicate, and access entertainment, the breadth of Alibaba’s video operations reflects the kind of business model complexity the VDP Pool was designed to serve.
“When a company contributes its innovation to video codec standards, adds its patents to a pool, takes a license, and then expands that relationship across multiple programs, it reflects their engagement with the licensing ecosystem that drives innovation and adoption of the best technology. Alibaba has been a partner in building that ecosystem, and today’s announcement is a meaningful step,” said Peter Moller, CEO of Access Advance. “The VDP Pool’s single-license structure covers essential patents across all four major video codecs for one royalty rate, eliminating the need to manage multiple bilateral agreements as platforms evolve. Alibaba’s operations span a broad range of activities including e-commerce, entertainment, and others, and the VDP Pool is built for exactly that kind of scale and diversity. We are pleased to have their full participation on both sides of the program.”
“Video technology enables Alibaba to better serve our customers and connect with them in meaningful ways across our platforms,” said Xiaopeng Ke, Patent Legal Director of Alibaba Group. “The VDP Pool provides a framework for licensing that we believe can support the continued development and broad adoption of next-generation video codec standards, and we look forward to working with Access Advance and other participants to ensure the pool serves the interests of both licensors and licensees.”
For more information about the VDP Pool or to inquire about licensing, visit accessadvance.com/licensing-programs/vdp-pool.
About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group is a global technology company focused on AI + Cloud and consumption. It provides the technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help merchants, brands, retailers and other businesses engage with their users and customers and operate efficiently. It empowers consumers and enterprises with its full-stack AI capabilities and services. For more information, visit alibaba.com.
About Access Advance:
Access Advance LLC is an independent licensing administrator company formed to lead the development, administration, and management of patent pools for licensing essential patents of the most important video codec technologies. Access Advance provides a transparent and efficient licensing mechanism for both patent owners and patent implementers.
Access Advance manages and administers the HEVC Advance Patent Pool for licensing over 29,000 patents essential to HEVC/H.265 technology and the VVC Advance Patent Pool for licensing over 5,400 patents essential to VVC/H.266 technology. The company’s Multi-Codec Bridging Agreement provides eligible licensees with a single discounted royalty rate structure for licensees participating in both the HEVC Advance and VVC Advance pools. In addition, Access Advance offers the Video Distribution Patent Pool, a comprehensive licensing solution for video streaming services covering HEVC, VVC, VP9, and AV1 codecs. Access Advance has also acquired the administrator of Via LA’s HEVC/VVC patent pool, now named the VCL Advance (Video Codec Licensing) program. For more information, please visit: www.accessadvance.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260701180698/en/
Media gallery
