A district court in Germany (Landgericht Dusseldorf) today issued
a preliminary injunction finding that statements by German DVD disc
manufacturer Optical Disc Service ("ODS") to the effect that ODS has
acquired the DVD manufacturing license issued by MPEG LA infringe
German competition law. According to the preliminary injunction, ODS
is prohibited from making and publicizing false statements such as
those made by ODS in a December 28, 2006 press release, which claimed,
"As part of the asset deal ODS has acquired the DVD manufacturing
licenses issued by MPEG LA and 6C/Toshiba. After litigation with MPEG
LA in Europe about the validity of patents and the size of royalty
payments, the ODS Group's manufacturing operations in the US, the UK
and in Germany have now agreed to be MPEG LA and 6C/Toshiba licensees
for their entire DVD production." See
http://www.mpegla.com/news/n_07-01-03_pr.pdf.
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. Among MPEG
LA's licenses is one for MPEG-2 digital video compression that has
helped produce the most widely employed standard in consumer
electronics history. The MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License, which
includes approximately 800 MPEG-2 essential patents in 57 countries,
has more than 1,000 licensees accounting for most MPEG-2 products,
including an estimated 90% of all DVD discs, in the current world
market. 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.
