About this episode
Kevin Mack discusses Via Licensing Alliance's plans for patent pools and the implications of de facto standards in technology.
Kevin Mack, the new president of Via Licensing Alliance, joins Eli for the Clause 8 season finale. Kevin talks about Via's plans to build its next patent pools around "de facto" standards — technology the market adopted on its own, with no standards body behind it — which would push collaborative licensing into territory it has never touched. Mack also takes a hard look at the royalty-free models spreading through tech and AI, from AV1 to the new Shared AI License Foundation (SAIL), argues that "free" rarely stays free, and explains why he's optimistic about where the patent system is heading. Kevin and Eli also discuss: *Via's model and the "tipping point" that turns a pool from a few licensors into thousands of licensees *"De facto" standards: pooling patents for technology no standards body ever blessed *Leadership turnover at Via, the HEVC pool's move to Access Advance, and a new strategy-and-growth group *The push into semiconductors, including a new DRAM memory program *AV1, SAIL, and why Mack thinks royalty-free rarely stays free *Whether AI patents are as "foundational" as advertised — and why "AI is not new" *Efficient infringement, patents as property rights, and why…
People in this episode
Host: Eli Mazour
Guest: Kevin Mack
Topics covered
- patent pools
- de facto standards
- royalty-free models
- AI patents
- collaborative licensing
- semiconductors
Keywords
- patent pools
- de facto standards
- royalty-free
- AI licensing
- semiconductors
- collaborative licensing
- efficient infringement
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Via Licensing Alliance, Shared AI License Foundation, Access Advance, Jamster Capital, RPX
More episodes of Clause 8
- AI Boom Calls for New Copyright Law, Says USPTO Chief Behind the DMCA · May 19, 2026 · 1h 16m
- The AI Patent Team Alice Built Shares Its Prosecution Secrets · May 5, 2026 · 46 min
- Inventor Gilbert Hyatt's gift to America — will America accept it? · April 21, 2026 · 19 min
- The Hidden Costs of “Free” Patent Licensing Initiatives · April 7, 2026 · 56 min
- USPTO Director John Squires' 'Foxhole Buddy' Tells All, Previews Message at Upcoming House Hearing · March 22, 2026 · 1h 9m
- The USPTO Is Changing Course. The Early Examination Data Tells a More Complicated Story. · March 10, 2026 · 51 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Clause 8 podcast page.