Hugh's News

16.1 Who owns the name Blu-ray Disc and its logo?
16.2 Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
16.3 What licensing obligations exist when duplicating and distributing content on writable BD discs?
16.4 What licensing obligations exist when replicating and distributing content on prerecorded BD discs?

16.1 Who owns the name Blu-ray Disc and its logo?
For the most part, the Blu-ray Disc name and its logo are trademarks of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). Originally, Sony Corporation (Sony Kabushiki Kaisha) and other founding BD companies registered Blu-ray Disc in various countries but have since transferred ownership to the BDA.

As worldwide registration is not yet complete, to be safe, the BDA employs transitional language such as "Blu-ray Disc and the Blu-ray Disc logo are trademarks." Other related names and logos, including BONUSVIEW, BD-Live, Blu-ray 3D, AVCREC, BD Regional Playback Control (RPC) and BDXL, are also trademarks of the BDA (see figure 16.1).

16.2 Who claims and who administers BD patent rights?
Despite notions to the contrary, the Blu-ray patent picture is far more extensive than any one dominating company. Properly understood, BD intellectual property rights encompass everything from audio and video codecs, content protection systems and software to materials, manufacturing processes, packaging and more.

Seeking to avoid the complexities of DVD’s multi-agent system (DVD6C, 4C, 3C, 1C, etc.), MPEG LA began working in 2005 with BD’s multiple stakeholders to establish itself a one-stop essential Blu-ray patent licensing authority. Those who participated in this effort included: CyberLink, Dell, Disney, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, Philips Electronics, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sonic Solutions, Sony, TDK, Victor Company of Japan (JVC) and Warner Home Video. MPEG LA later abandoned its attempt in early 2009.

On Feb. 25, 2009, Panasonic, Philips and Sony announced their intentions to cooperate with each other and any interested patent holders to create a joint Blu-ray license. Under this plan, packages of essential BD, DVD and CD patent licenses (see table) will be made available to manufacturers and software publishers through an independent entity, established on Oct. 9, 2009 as One-Blue, LLC.

On Oct. 20, 2009, One-Blue, LLC issued a call for patents with their essentiality to BD products sold in the United States to be evaluated by Proskauer, Rose LLP (an international law firm that performs similar determinations for MPEG LA, DVD6C and 4C). An initial meeting of essential patent holders is planned for Nov. 6, 2009 in Japan. However, it is far from clear how successful this effort will be with respect to its ultimate participants as well as the scope and terms of any possibly consensual programs.

On March 8, 2010, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Thomson Licensing, Toshiba Corporation and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (BD4C Licensing Group) announced they have commended a joint licensing program beginning March 1, 2010. Under this plan, essential BD and DVD patent licenses will be made available through Toshiba (see table).

In addition and notwithstanding participating in pools, such as that proposed by Panasonic, Philips and Sony, companies typically offer the option to directly license their intellectual property. By way of example, Philips and Sony offer various programs to manufacturers who wish to license their essential BD patents (see tables).

MPEG LA also administers joint patent licenses for MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and VC-1 video codecs (see table). Keep in mind, however, that while these portfolios may be comprehensive, they are not exhaustive and include only essential patents. Thus, it is possible that other parties may be due royalties. For example, neither AT&T, nor many of the participants of a rival, and now abandoned, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 joint patent licensing program administered by Via Licensing Corporation, are included in MPEG LA’s offering.

MPEG-2 patent licensors: Alcatel Lucent, British Telecommunications plc, Canon, Inc., CIF Licensing, LLC, Columbia University, France Télécom (CNET), Fujitsu, General Instrument Corp., GE Technology Development, Inc., Hitachi, Ltd., KDDI Corporation (KDDI), LG Electronics Inc., Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), Philips, Robert Bosch GmbH, Samsung, Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Scientific-Atlanta, Sharp, Sony, Thomson Licensing, Toshiba and Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC).

MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 patent licensors: DAEWOO Electronics Corporation, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, France Télécom, société anonyme, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Fujitsu Limited, Hitachi, Ltd., Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., LG Electronics Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Microsoft Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Scientific-Atlanta Vancouver Company, Sedna Patent Services, LLC, Sharp Corporation, Siemens AG, Sony Corporation, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, Toshiba Corporation and Victor Company of Japan, Ltd (JVC).

VC-1 patent licensors: DAEWOO Electronics Corporation, France Télécom, société anonyme, Fujitsu Limited, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., LG Electronics Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic), Microsoft Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), Pantech & Curitel Communications, Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Siemens AG, Sony Corporation, Telenor ASA, Toshiba Corporation and Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (JVC).

Various industry groups develop, maintain and license the digital audio/video interface and related encryption technologies employed by BD-equipped computers and consumer electronics devices (see table). These include HDMI Licensing, LLC (HDMI), Digital Display Working Group (DVI), Video Electronics Standards Association (DisplayPort) and Digital Content Protection, LLC (HDCP).

The Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is developed, administered and licensed by AACS LA, a consortium of technology and content providers consisting of IBM, Intel, Panasonic (Matsushita Electric), Sony, Toshiba, Microsoft, Disney and Warner Bros.

16.3 What licensing obligations exist when duplicating and distributing content on writable BD discs?
Distributing digital audio, video, text and still images, either electronically or on physical media, often involves important patent, trademark and other intellectual property considerations. When working with Blu-ray the need to enter into and comply with various license agreements differs depending upon the circumstance. For detailed descriptions of these requirements as they pertain to duplicating (recording) and distributing content on writable BD (BD-R/RE) discs see: Hugh Bennett. "Blu-ray Disc Licensing for Small Publishers, Duplicators, and Independent Studios." EMediaLive 26 June 2008.

16.4 What licensing obligations exist when replicating and distributing content on prerecorded BD discs?
Distributing digital audio, video, text and still images, either electronically or on physical media, often involves important patent, trademark and other intellectual property considerations. When working with Blu-ray the need to enter into and comply with various license agreements differs depending upon the circumstance. For a detailed description of these requirements as they pertain to replicating and distributing content on prerecorded/pressed BD (BD-ROM) discs see: Hugh Bennett. "The Ins and Outs of Blu-ray Disc Replication and Licensing." EMediaLive 7 Oct. 2008.