MPEG LA announced its new MVC Patent Portfolio License, which applies to Blu-ray 3D and other products that employ the MPEG-4 Multiview Video Codec (MVC) standard.
For more information visit: www.mpegla.com
Unedited press release follows:
MPEG LA Offers MVC Patent Portfolio License
MVC is the 3D Video Standard Used in Blu-ray Disc® and Other 3D Video Products
DENVER — MPEG LA, LLC today announced the availability of the MVC Patent Portfolio License. The joint license includes patents that are essential to the Multiview Video Coding (“MVC”) standard for encoding and decoding 3D video. The MVC standard is used in Blu-ray Disc® 3D players, recorders, software, PCs, optical discs, 3D video cameras, and 3D playback devices.
Current MVC essential patent holders include 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); NTT DOCOMO, Inc.; Panasonic Corporation; Sharp Corporation; Sony Corporation; The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York; and Thomson Licensing.
“MPEG LA is proud to play a role in delivering technology that enables consumers to receive the benefits of 3D video,” said MPEG LA President and CEO Larry Horn. “This license gives renewed testimony to the ability of the MPEG LA® Licensing Model to address real world market demand for access to standard-essential patents owned by multiple parties through a convenient, fair, and efficient one-stop licensing alternative enabling users to focus their resources on developing new competitive products instead of uncertainty and conflict. We applaud these fifteen patent holders for their exemplary cooperation in coming together for the benefit of the marketplace to forge a voluntary market-based solution that benefits MVC consumers.”
Bill Geary, Vice President of Business Development at MPEG LA, will introduce the MVC patent pool license at the Asia-Pacific 3D Standards & IP Forum to be held on February 24 in Seoul, Korea. Mr. Geary said, “We are honored to introduce an efficient patent licensing solution for 3D MVC video and join a multi-national panel of speakers who will address IP and standards development for 3D applications in entertainment, medicine, and education.”
Copies of the MVC license agreement may be obtained at http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/MVC/Pages/Agreement.aspx. A summary of the license terms is attached. In addition, MVC products may benefit from coverage under the AVC/H.264 Patent Portfolio License offered by MPEG LA. To obtain information about or request a copy of the AVC/H.264 Patent Portfolio License, please go to http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/Intro.aspx.
MPEG LA welcomes any party that believes it has patents that are essential to the MVC 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/main/programs/MVC/Pages/Licensors.aspx. MPEG LA’s objective is to provide worldwide access to as much MVC 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® Licensing Model has become the template for addressing other technologies. Today MPEG LA operates licensing programs consisting of more than 6,000 patents in 74 countries with 157 Licensors and some 5,000 Licensees. 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 MVC Patent Portfolio License, which provides the only definitive statement of licensing terms on which users may rely, may be obtained from MPEG LA at http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/MVC/Pages/AgreementExpress.aspx.
• Royalty of $0.10 per unit for a Multiple View MVC Product including an MVC decoder, encoder, or codec
• Licensees also may choose a simplified reporting option affording them a 10% discount on per unit encoder and decoder royalties (not applicable to Legal Entity/Enterprise Cap)
• Includes right to make, have made, sell, offer for sale, import, and for an end user to use Multiple View MVC Products
• Legal Entity/Enterprise cap of $6.5 million annually for Multiple View MVC Products
• Title-by-Title Multiple View MVC Video including 3D Blu-ray® optical discs
– 12 minutes or less = no royalty
– At least 12 minutes in length = lower of (a) 1% or (b) $0.01 per title
• Subscription Multiple View MVC Video (not limited by title)
– 100,000 or fewer subscribers/yr = no royalty
– 100,001 to 250,000 subscribers/yr = $25,000
– 250,001 to 500,000 subscribers/yr = $50,000
– 500,001 to 1,000,000 subscribers/yr = $75,000
– 1,000,001 to 5,000,000 subscribers/yr = $100,000
– 5,000,001 to 25,000,000 subscribers/yr = $200,000
– Greater than 25M subscribers/yr = $300,000
• Legal Entity/Enterprise cap of $6.5 million annually for Subscription and Title-by-Title Multiple View MVC Video
• Coverage from January 1, 2010
• Royalties payable on licensed products from January 1, 2011
• Initial license term to December 31, 2016 with right of renewal
MVC products also may benefit from coverage under the AVC/H.264 Patent Portfolio License offered by MPEG LA. To obtain information about or request a copy of the AVC/H.264 Patent Portfolio License, go to http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/Intro.aspx.