MPEG-4 Part 2 video standard patent expires, freeing DivX and Xvid
A key patent for the MPEG-4 Part 2 video compression standard has expired, permitting the worldwide use of DivX and Xvid technologies without licensing fees.
A crucial patent related to the MPEG-4 Part 2 video compression standard expired on July 19, 2026, effectively freeing the use of DivX and Xvid technologies globally. The patent, identified as BRPI0109962B1 and held by Siemens AG, had been in effect for ten years since its activation in 2016.
MPEG-4 Part 2 is a video compression standard that formed the technical basis for early popular codecs such as DivX and Xvid. Its expiration removes the previous licensing requirements for developers and manufacturers.
This development allows developers, Linux distributions, multimedia projects, and device manufacturers to integrate MPEG-4 Part 2 functionalities into their products without incurring patent fees. This change is particularly significant for smaller software vendors, commercial open-source projects, embedded Linux developers, and companies dealing with legacy media libraries.
While end-users may not notice immediate changes, as applications like VLC and FFmpeg have long supported these formats, the patent's expiration eases integration for software providers and aligns with Linux distributions that enforce strict policies on patented multimedia technologies. This removes a long-standing barrier for adopting these widely used video codecs.