ULDAGE commences sat-UHDTV patent licensing
July 3, 2017
By Colin Mann
Licensing body ULDAGE has confirmed the commencement of patent licensing activities under the system of a patent pool that collectively, and under fair and reasonable conditions, bundles and licenses the patents that are essential to the realisation of the UHDTV satellite broadcasting standards, to business operators that are involved in transmission and reception of UHDTV satellite broadcasting (also known as 4K, 8K broadcasting).
As for this patent licensing, the following 16 entities holding the patents that have been determined by the Japan Intellectual Property Arbitration Center, a neutral organisation, to be essential to the standards, have started the licensing through ULDAGE:
Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, Fujitsu Limited, Hitachi Maxell, Ltd., JVC KENWOOD Corporation, LG Electronics Inc., MASPROH DENKOH CORP., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, NEC Corporation, Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), Orange SA (formerly France Telecom), Panasonic Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sony Corporation, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York (Columbia University), Thomson Licensing S.A.S, and Toshiba Corporation.
According to the licensing body, in this digital age, it has become more and more necessary to resolve patent issues under fair and reasonable conditions by simplifying the complicated rights issues and the related complex procedures. ULDAGE currently operates licences under the patent pool system that licenses those patents which have been gathered and bundled, and determined to be essential to the standards of high definition terrestrial digital broadcasting, high definition satellite digital broadcasting, and high definition digital cable broadcasting (also known as 2K broadcasting) respectively.
ULDAGE says it is proud to have contributed to the smooth development of the industry, suggesting that the establishment of a pool of this kind relating to the UHDTV satellite standards is also thought to be another contribution to the well-being of business operators that use these standards and to the development of stable business.
With this patent licensing, it is possible for broadcasters and receiver manufacturers to receive a license of bundled patents from a number of patent holders under very reasonable conditions. For example, with respect to receivers, the rates are set at ¥100 (€0.78) per unit in respect of advanced narrowband CS UHDTV receivers and ¥200 per unit in respect of advanced wideband UHDTV receivers, taking into consideration the development of the market going forward.
Furthermore, ULDAGE continues to make a call for patents and sequentially adds patents that have been recognised to be essential to the UHDTV satellite broadcasting standards, aiming for further reinforcement of the patent licensing.
Moreover, with respect to those patents relating to UHDTV standards pertaining to CATV and IPTV (for which calls for patents were commenced in April 2017), ULDAGE plans to hold discussions about the licensing terms and conditions once the holders of those patents have been determined, and ULDAGE plans to commence licensing activities through patent pools that are similar to this satellite broadcasting pool.