MPEG LA, LLC today announced the availability of the ATSC Patent
Portfolio License. The joint license includes patents that are
essential to the digital television standard (including high
definition and standard definition) developed by the Advanced
Television Systems Committee (ATSC) and used in digital televisions
sold in the United States, South Korea, Mexico, Canada and other
countries.
Essential patent holders include Zenith Electronics Corporation;
Scientific-Atlanta, Inc.; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi
Electric Corporation; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
(Panasonic); LG Electronics Inc.; and Koninklijke Philips Electronics
N.V.
"MPEG LA is proud to play a continuing role in support of digital
television's now and next generation," said MPEG LA Chief Executive
Officer Larry Horn. "This license gives further testimony to the
ability of the MPEG LA(R) Licensing Model to address real-world market
demand for a convenient and reliable one-stop licensing alternative
enabling manufacturers to focus their resources on new product
development. We applaud these patent holders for their exemplary
cooperation in coming together for the benefit of the marketplace with
patents of demonstrated value to forge a voluntary marketplace
solution inuring to the benefit of ATSC consumers."
Copies of the license agreement may be obtained at
http://www.mpegla.com/atsc/atsc-agreement.cfm. A summary of the
license terms is attached.
MPEG LA welcomes any party that believes it has patents which are
essential to the ATSC Standard to submit them for an evaluation of
their essentiality by MPEG LA's patent experts and inclusion in the
License if determined to be essential. Interested parties may request
a copy of the terms and procedures governing patent submissions at
http://www.mpegla.com/atsc/atsc-licensors.cfm. MPEG LA's objective is
to provide worldwide access to as much ATSC essential intellectual
property as possible for the benefit of licensees (new patent holders
and essential patents may be added at no additional royalty during the
current term of the License).
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.
Attachment
Below is a brief summary of the licensing terms for informational
purposes only. The ATSC Patent Portfolio License, providing the only
definitive statement of licensing terms on which users may rely, may
be obtained from MPEG LA at
http://www.mpegla.com/atsc/atsc-agreement.cfm.
-- Royalty of USD 5.00 per unit for an ATSC Receiver Product
capable of demodulating and decoding an over-the-air, RF
terrestrial broadcast signal in compliance with the ATSC
Standard
-- Includes right to make, have made, sell, offer for sale,
import, and for an end user to use ATSC Receiver Products
-- Coverage from December 24, 1996
-- Royalties payable on products from January 1, 1998
-- Initial license term to December 31, 2016 with right of
renewal
Information regarding a license to patents that are essential to
the MPEG-2 Video and Systems standard used in ATSC products may be
obtained from MPEG LA at http://www.mpegla.com/m2/.