MPEG LA Expands Call for HD DVD Patents

In its continued response to marketplace interest in the creation
of a joint HD DVD patent license including as much essential
intellectual property as possible, MPEG LA, LLC today expanded its
call for patents essential to the implementation of the HD DVD
Standard to include the following specifications:

1) DVD Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc (HD DVD-ROM)
Part 1 Optional Specifications: Triple Layer Twin Format Disc; and

2) DVD Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc (HD DVD-ROM)
Part 1 Physical Specifications (51 Gbytes).

MPEG LA´s plan for forming a joint patent portfolio license to
provide users with fair, reasonable, nondiscriminatory access to the
HD DVD technology as an alternative to negotiating separate licenses
was first announced in a 9 May 2007 news release (see
http://www.mpegla.com/news/n_07-05-09_pr.pdf). The inclusion of the
DVD Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc (HD DVD-ROM) Part 1
Optional Specifications: Triple Layer Twin Format Disc and for DVD
Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc (HD DVD-ROM) Part 1
Physical Specifications (51 Gbytes) are in addition to the other parts
of the Standard earlier announced.

MPEG LA welcomes any party that believes it has patents which are
essential to the HD DVD Standard to submit them for evaluation of
their essentiality by MPEG LA´s patent evaluators and participate in
the joint license creation process if determined to be essential.
Further information, along with terms and procedures governing patent
submissions, can be found at http://www.mpegla.com/pid/hddvd/. While
only issued patents that are essential to the HD DVD 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 HD DVD Standard and likely to issue in a
patent also may be submitted for an evaluation of essentiality.

HD DVD Standard

HD DVD refers to a next generation optical disc format developed
by the DVD Forum, an international association of hardware
manufacturers, software firms, content providers and other users of
Digital Versatile Discs. The format was developed to enable recording,
re-writing and playback of high definition (HD) video and audio, as
well as storing large amounts of data. The new format uses a
blue-violet laser with a short wave length (405 nm) allowing a large
amount of data to be packed tightly and stored on a standard size
disc. The HD DVD Standard refers generally to (a) a rewritable optical
disc, a recordable optical disc and a read-only optical disc; (b) the
method of playing such discs; and (c) recording methods. For more
information, see http://www.dvdfllc.co.jp/hd_dvd/hd_what.html.

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 owners in a
single transaction as an alternative to negotiating individual
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.