Brussels, Belgium
Sisvel is pleased to announce that the establishment of a joint licensing program for DVB-H essential patents is well under way among France Telecom, LG Electronics, Nokia, Samsung Electronics, TB Invent, and TDF, all holders of essential patents for DVB-H.
In their continuing efforts to finalize the terms of a joint licensing program, the above patent holders have reached agreement on a number of basic points, including royalty conditions for a license under their essential patents.
A summary of the royalty conditions agreed to by the above patent owners can be found in the attached enclosure. It is worthwhile to note that the rates approved by the patent holders are designed to encourage broad scale adoption of the DVB-H technology in the very near future.
The patent holders will continue their work to finalize a comprehensive agreement among themselves and Sisvel to start the joint licensing of their essential patents as soon as possible. A final agreement is expected before the summer and a DVB-H license for third parties should become available shortly thereafter.
Roberto Dini, founder of Sisvel, commented: "This represents a first crucial step towards the finalization of the DVB-H patent pool made possible thanks to the foresight of a group of committed patent holders willing to compromise on their individual interests in view of the overriding public interest of having certainty about the cost of Intellectual Property essential to implement this innovative technology. This also shows that the patent holders and the facilitator are strongly committed to effectively follow-up on Commissioner Reding's invitation in this respect."
About SISVEL
SISVEL is a patent management company that has become a leader in promoting innovation and in licensing patents for the past 25 years and is a recognized world leader in increasing the value of patents. SISVEL enables users to acquire patent rights necessary for a particular technology standard from multiple patent holders in a single transaction, providing one-stop technology platform patent licenses. For more information, please refer to www.sisvel.com.
Attachment
The present is a summary of the royalties agreed for DVB-H compliant products for the essential patents to be licensed by Sisvel in a joint licensing program. The following rates are not intended to be considered as an offer to license and cannot be relied upon for any purpose other than informative.
-- Royalties will be charged on a per-unit basis (for each DVB-H compliant product)
-- The following royalty rates will apply based on yearly units sold/produced by the licensee.
Non - Hierarchical Hierarchical
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------------------ ----------------- ---------------- ----------------
Units Royalty Rate Units Royalty Rate
------------------ ----------------- ---------------- ----------------
< 1 Mill 0.60EUR < 1 Mill 0.70EUR
------------------ ----------------- ---------------- ----------------
1 - 2 Mill 0.50EUR 1 - 2 Mill 0.58EUR
------------------ ----------------- ---------------- ----------------
2 - 4 Mill 0.40EUR 2 - 4 Mill 0.47EUR
------------------ ----------------- ---------------- ----------------
4 - 8 Mill 0.35EUR 4 - 8 Mill 0.41EUR
------------------ ----------------- ---------------- ----------------
8 - 12 Mill 0.30EUR 8 - 12 Mill 0.35EUR
------------------ ----------------- ---------------- ----------------
greater than 12 0.20EUR greater than 12 0.25EUR
Mill Mill
------------------ ----------------- ---------------- ----------------
-- To encourage early adoption of the DVB-H system, for the first 4 years an Early Birds incentive will be offered to reduce the royalties due as follows:
PRE>
Year Percentage of Royalty Rate
---------------- -----------------------------------------------------
2008 40%
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2009 55%
---------------- -----------------------------------------------------
2010 70%
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2011 85%
---------------- -----------------------------------------------------
2012 100%
---------------- -----------------------------------------------------
-- A Yearly Cap on royalties will apply as follows:
Year Cap
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2009 1 MEUR
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2010 3 MEUR
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2011 6 MEUR
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2012 9 MEUR
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Source: Business Wire (Business Wire India)