TV-Anytime Phase 1 Patent Pool Offering "Early Adopter" Incentives

The TV-Anytime Phase 1 Patent Pool (note: the latter is administered by Via Licensing) has announced various "early adopter" incentives for companies wishing to enter into a license agreement for patents that are essential to the TV-Anytime standard. The incentives are being offered to companies that take a license before June 1st, 2007:

• Device manufacturers that take a license during the early-adopter period will be entitled to make, use or sell an unlimited number of TV-Anytime-compliant devices through December 31st, 2008, under a paid license granted upon payment of a one-time administration fee of $10,000. License fees beyond that date will be at the rates previously announced and published on Via Licensing's Web site (www.vialicensing.com).
• Public-service and free-to-air broadcasters and metadata providers that obtain a license during the early-adopter period will be able to use the patents through May 31st, 2017 for a license free of $10,000 (note: they will also have to pay a one-time administration fee of $10,000). Broadcasters that obtain such a license, and later become subscription TV service providers during the early-adopter period will not be subject to per-subscriber fees through December 31st, 2008. The license fees for use beyond these dates will be at rates previously published on Via Licensing's Web site.
• Subscription-based TV service providers will be entitled to use the patents through December 31st, 2008, under a paid license that will be granted upon payment of a one-time administration fee of $10,000. The license fees beyond December 31st, 2008 will be at the rates previously published on Via Licensing's Web site.

TV-Anytime Phase 1 interactive TV standard (TVA-1 standard) was developed by the TV-Anytime Forum, and is published by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) as TS 102 822. It addresses the means by which viewers will be able to search, select, and acquire broadcast and online audiovisual content via PVR's. Participants in the TV-Anytime patent pool include the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), France Telecom, LG Electronics, NDS, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, and Sharp.

Click http://www.itvt.com to subscribe to our free email newsletter, which contains all the news stories you see on this Web site, and additional breaking news and scoops, in-depth features, interviews, screenshots, videos, and other exclusive content you will not find anywhere else.