MPEG LA Further Expands Call for Blu-ray Disc(TM) Patents

In its continued response to marketplace interest in accessing as
much essential intellectual property as possible in a single license,
MPEG LA, LLC today expanded its call for patents essential to the
implementation of the Blu-ray Disc(TM) Standard to include the
following specification:

-0-
*T
System Description Blu-ray Disc(TM) Rewritable Format,
Part 3 Audio Visual Basic Specifications, Version 3.0, September 2006
*T

Inclusion of this specification is in addition to other Blu-ray
Disc(TM) Specifications encompassed by previous calls for patents
issued by MPEG LA (see
http://www.mpegla.com/news/n_06-04-05_bluray.pdf and
http://www.mpegla.com/news/n_06-07-27_pr.pdf). Patents essential to
additional Blu-ray Disc(TM) Specifications may be called for in the
future.

MPEG LA first announced its plan for facilitating formation of a
joint patent portfolio license in a November 2005 news release (see
http://www.mpegla.com/news/n_05-11-09_bluray.pdf).

Any party that believes it has patents that are essential to the
Blu-ray Disc(TM) standard and wishes to join the Blu-ray Disc(TM)
Patent Portfolio License is invited to submit them for evaluation by
MPEG LA's patent evaluators. Further information, along with terms and
procedures governing patent submissions, can be found at
http://www.mpegla.com/pid/bluray/. While only issued patents that are
essential to the Blu-ray Disc(TM) standard will be included in the
license, in order to participate in the license development process,
patent applications with claims that their owners believe are
essential to the Blu-ray Disc(TM) standard and likely to issue in a
patent also may be submitted for an evaluation of essentiality.

MPEG LA, LLC

MPEG LA is the world leader in alternative technology licenses,
enabling users to acquire worldwide patent rights necessary for a
technology standard or platform from multiple patent holders in a
single transaction as an alternative to negotiating separate licenses.
Wherever an independently administered one-stop patent license would
provide a convenient marketplace alternative to assist users with
implementation of their technology choices, the licensing model
pioneered and employed by MPEG LA may provide a solution. By balancing
patent users' interest in reasonable access with patent owners'
interest in reasonable return, MPEG LA creates the opportunity for
adoption of new technologies and fuels innovation. MPEG LA's initial
licensing program for MPEG-2 digital video compression helped produce
the most widely employed standard in consumer electronics history, and
the MPEG LA(R) Licensing Model has become the template for addressing
other technologies. Today MPEG LA manages licensing programs
consisting of essential patents in 57 countries. MPEG LA is an
independent licensing administrator; it is not related to any
standards agency and is not an affiliate of any patent holder. For
more information, please refer to http://www.mpegla.com.