Four Companies Join for Blu-ray Patent Licensing
Four companies – Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Thomson Licensing, Toshiba Corporation and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment – have commenced a worldwide joint licensing program, beginning on March 1, 2010, for Blu-ray ("BD") and DVD patents.
The patents are essential for BD decoders, BD encoders, BD players, BD read-only discs, BD recordable discs, BD drives, BD/DVD hybrid discs and BD recorders.
The potential licensees will benefit from one-stop shopping for the essential patents owned or controlled by the four companies, which will facilitate the development of the BD market.
The license portfolio consists of BD and DVD patents, owned or controlled by the four companies. Licenses for the portfolio will be available for products that comply with the specifications for the BD formats promulgated by the Blu-ray Disc Association.
Interested parties are also free to negotiate separate license agreements, rather than taking a single portfolio license, with each of the four companies.
The companies have authorized Toshiba to act as licensor for the group.