16.1 Who owns the name Blu-ray Disc and its logo?
16.2 Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
16.3 What licensing obligations exist when duplicating and distributing content on writable BD discs?
16.4 What licensing obligations exist when replicating and distributing content on prerecorded BD discs?

16.1 Who owns the name Blu-ray Disc and its logo?
For the most part, the Blu-ray Disc name and its logo are trademarks of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). Originally, Sony Corporation (Sony Kabushiki Kaisha) and other founding BD companies registered Blu-ray Disc in various countries but have since transferred ownership to the BDA.

As worldwide registration is not yet complete, to be safe, the BDA employs transitional language such as "Blu-ray Disc and the Blu-ray Disc logo are trademarks." Other related names and logos, including BONUSVIEW, BD-Live, Blu-ray 3D, AVCREC, BD Regional Playback Control (RPC), BDXL and Ultra HD Blu-ray, are also trademarks of the BDA (see figure 16.1).

16.2 Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
Despite notions to the contrary, the Blu-ray patent picture is far more extensive than any one dominating company. Properly understood, BD intellectual property rights encompass everything from audio and video codecs, content protection systems and software to materials, manufacturing processes, packaging and more.

Seeking to avoid the complexities of DVD’s multi-agent system (DVD6C, 4C, 3C, 1C, etc.), MPEG LA began working in 2005 with BD’s multiple stakeholders to establish itself a one-stop essential Blu-ray patent licensing authority. Those who participated in this effort included: CyberLink, Dell, Disney, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, Philips Electronics, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sonic Solutions, Sony, TDK, Victor Company of Japan (JVC) and Warner Home Video. MPEG LA later abandoned its attempt in early 2009.

On Feb. 25, 2009, Panasonic, Philips and Sony announced their intentions to cooperate with each other and any interested patent holders to create a joint Blu-ray license. Under this plan, packages of essential BD, DVD and CD patent licenses will be made available to manufacturers and software publishers through an independent entity, established on Oct. 9, 2009 as One-Blue, LLC.

On Oct. 20, 2009, One-Blue issued a call for patents with their essentiality to BD products sold in the United States to be evaluated by Proskauer, Rose LLP (an international law firm that performs similar determinations for MPEG LA, DVD6C and 4C). An initial meeting of essential patent holders was held Nov. 6, 2009 in Japan. One-Blue officially launched its patent licensing program on July 1, 2011 and announced it to the world a little over a month later (see table).

One-Red, LLC, established in 2011 as a joint venture of Philips, Sony and Pioneer, administers the Blu-ray licensing program outside the United States, Canada and Japan on behalf of One-Blue.

One-Blue patent licensors (as of July 2016): ARRIS Enterprises LLC, Columbia Technology Ventures, Cyberlink Corporation (shareholder), Dell Global B.V., Fujitsu Limited, Hewlett-Packard Company, Hitachi Consumer Electronics Ltd. (shareholder), JVC KENWOOD Corporation, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (shareholder), LG Electronics Inc., Panasonic Corporation (shareholder), Pioneer Corporation, Samsung Electronics Company Ltd. (shareholder), Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation (shareholder), Taiyo Yuden Company Ltd., Yamaha Corporation.

To help distinguish licensed products, One-Blue requires authorized manufacturers to include supporting documentation with shipments as well as tag items and their containers with an assortment of registration labels and marks (see figure 16.2).

On March 8, 2010, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Thomson Licensing (Technicolor), Toshiba Corporation and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (BD4C Licensing Group) announced they have commenced a joint licensing program beginning March 1, 2010. Under this plan, essential BD and DVD patent licenses will be made available through Toshiba (see table). This group has since changed its name to PREMIER BD and now includes Disney Enterprises as well as Columbia Technology Ventures (Columbia University).

On September 8, 2010, LG Electronics announced that it will allow Blu-ray format implementers to use a number of the company’s patents without paying royalties. For a detailed description see: "LG Grants Royalty-Free Blu-ray Patent License." Hugh’s News 20 Sept. 2010.

In addition and notwithstanding participating in pools, such as One-Blue and PREMIER BD, companies typically offer the option to directly license their intellectual property. By way of example, Philips and Sony offer various programs to manufacturers who wish to license their essential BD patents (see tables).

MPEG LA also administers joint patent licenses for HEVC/H.265, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, MPEG-4 MVC and VC-1 video codecs (see table). Keep in mind, however, that while these portfolios may be comprehensive, they are not exhaustive and include only essential patents. Thus, it is possible that other parties may be due royalties. For example, neither AT&T, nor many of the participants of a rival, and now abandoned, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 joint patent licensing program administered by Via Licensing Corporation, are included in MPEG LA’s offering.

HEVC/H.265 patent licensors: Apple Inc., British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Fujitsu Limited​, Hitachi Maxell, Ltd., HUMAX Holdings Co., Ltd.​, IBEX PT Holdings, Industry – Academy Cooperation Foundation of Sejong University, Infobridge Pte. Ltd., Intellectual Discovery Co., LTD., JVC KENWOOD Corporation, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), KT Corp., Kwangwoon University Industry – Academic Collaboration Foundation, M&K Holdings Inc., NEC Corporation, NEWRACOM, Inc., Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), NTT DOCOMO, INC., Orange SA, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Siemens Corp., SK Planet Co., Ltd., SK Telecom, SungKyunKwan University Research & Business Foundation, Tagivan II, LLC, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, University – Industry Cooperation Foundation of Korea Aerospace University, University – Industry Cooperation Group of Kyung Hee University, Vidyo, Inc.

MPEG-2 patent licensors: Alcatel Lucent, British Telecommunications plc, Canon Inc., CIF Licensing, LLC, Cisco Technology, Inc., France Télécom, société anonyme, Fujitsu Limited, GE Technology Development, Inc., General Instrument Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, Hitachi, Ltd., JVC KENWOOD Corporation, KDDI Corporation, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., LG Electronics Inc., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Multimedia Patent Trust, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, Thomson Licensing, Toshiba Corporation.

MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 patent licensors: Apple Inc., Cisco Systems Canada Co., Cisco Technology, Inc., DAEWOO Electronics Corporation, Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, France Télécom, société anonyme, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Fujitsu Limited, Hewlett-Packard Company, Hitachi Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd., JVC KENWOOD Corporation, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., LG Electronics Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, NTT DOCOMO, INC., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Polycom, Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sedna Patent Services, LLC, Sharp Corporation, Siemens AG, Sony Corporation, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, Toshiba Corporation.

MPEG-4 MVC patent licensors: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Fujitsu Limited, Hewlett-Packard Company, Hitachi Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd., Koninklijke KPN N.V., LG Electronics Inc., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, NTT DOCOMO, Inc., Panasonic Corporation, Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, Thomson Licensing.

VC-1 patent licensors: DAEWOO Electronics Corporation, Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, France Télécom, société anonyme, Fujitsu Limited, JVC KENWOOD Corporation, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., LG Electronics Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Pantech Co., Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Siemens AG, Sony Corporation, Telenor ASA, Toshiba Corporation.

Beyond MPEG LA’s efforts, HEVC Advance (Dolby, GE, HFI Innovation, Philips, Mitsubishi Electric, Warner Bros.) also administers a joint patent license for the HEVC/H.265 video codec.

Originally part of HEVC Advance, Technicolor has parted ways with the organization and now licenses its own HEVC/H.265 video codec patents.

Optical Memory Storage LLC (Acacia Research) claims to hold patents (developed by Energy Conversion Devices) that apply to using phase change materials in Blu-ray rewritable (BD-RE) discs.

Advanced Optical Tracking LLC claims to hold patents (developed by DPHI/DataPlay) that apply to Blu-ray recordable (BD-R) and rewritable (BD-RE) discs.

MONKEYmedia, Inc. claims to hold patents (seamless contraction and expansion) that apply to Blu-ray video discs, players and software.

InMotion Imagery Technologies, LLC claims to hold patents (video indexing) that apply to Blu-ray video discs, players, recorders and software.

Rovi Corporation claims to hold BD-Live patents (developed by Interactual Technologies) that apply to Blu-ray video discs, players and software.

Max Blu Technologies, LCC claims to hold mastering patents (developed by Imation) that apply to prerecorded Blu-ray discs.

Various industry groups develop, maintain and license the digital audio/video interface and related encryption technologies employed by BD-equipped computers and consumer electronics devices (see table). These include HDMI Licensing, LLC (HDMI), Digital Display Working Group (DVI), Video Electronics Standards Association (DisplayPort) and Digital Content Protection, LLC (HDCP).

The Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is developed, administered and licensed by AACS LA, a consortium of technology and content providers consisting of IBM, Intel, Panasonic (Matsushita Electric), Sony, Toshiba, Microsoft, Disney and Warner Bros.

16.3 What licensing obligations exist when duplicating and distributing content on writable BD discs?
Distributing digital audio, video, text and still images, either electronically or on physical media, often involves important patent, trademark and other intellectual property considerations. When working with Blu-ray the need to enter into and comply with various license agreements differs depending upon the circumstance. For detailed descriptions of these requirements as they pertain to duplicating (recording) and distributing content on writable BD (BD-R/RE) discs see: Hugh Bennett. "Blu-ray Disc Licensing for Small Publishers, Duplicators, and Independent Studios." EMediaLive 26 June 2008.

16.4 What licensing obligations exist when replicating and distributing content on prerecorded BD discs?
Distributing digital audio, video, text and still images, either electronically or on physical media, often involves important patent, trademark and other intellectual property considerations. When working with Blu-ray the need to enter into and comply with various license agreements differs depending upon the circumstance. For a detailed description of these requirements as they pertain to replicating and distributing content on prerecorded/pressed BD (BD-ROM) discs see: Hugh Bennett. "The Ins and Outs of Blu-ray Disc Replication and Licensing." EMediaLive 7 Oct. 2008.