MPEG LA Issues ATSC Patent Portfolio License

CHEVY CHASE, Md. — 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® 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-agreement.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).

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/.