June 20, 2016
Dear Madam/Sir:
On behalf of the DVD6C Licensing Group (DVD6C), we are pleased to offer your company a portfolio license that covers essential patents for certain DVD formats and +R/+RW Disc formats. The members of DVD6C – Hitachi Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd., JVC KENWOOD Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Toshiba Corporation and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. – collectively own hundreds of essential patents for these DVD formats and +R/+RW Disc formats. We offer a portfolio license to all of the essential patents owned by DVD6C members for players, recorders, drives, encoders, decoders, discs and cases implementing the DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R and DVD Video Recording formats, and discs implementing the +R/+RW Disc formats.
All companies that practice these patents, including in the manufacture of players, recorders, drives, encoders, decoders, discs and disc cases, must be licensed. DVD6C’s joint licensing program offers an efficient means to be licensed and, therefore, to avoid patent infringement, by offering a package of essential patents owned by the nine members. The nine members of DVD6C have authorized Toshiba to grant portfolio licenses on their behalf. Hitachi assists Toshiba’s DVD6C licensing in Asia (excluding Japan), Oceania and the Middle East and Panasonic assists Toshiba’s DVD6C licensing activities on a regional basis in the Americas. Toshiba is directly responsible for DVD6C licensing in Japan, Europe and Africa (including Egypt).
DVD6C licensees have the option of selecting portfolio licenses for particular categories of products, as listed below. Each of these licenses covers all essential patents owned by the DVD6C members for the particular category(ies) of products listed below and selected by the licensee, but not any patents that are not essential for the category(ies) of products chosen.
The royalty rates applicable to portfolio license and for the optional licenses available under the DVD6C license agreement (the "New DVD6C License Agreement") for particular categories of products (should you elect one or more licenses for the categories of products listed below) are as follows:
| Category | Royalty |
|---|---|
| DVD-Video Player | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price (up to a maximum of US$8.00 per player) or (ⅱ) US$4.00 per player; US$2.00 per player on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement |
| DVD-Audio Player | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price (up to a maximum of US$8.00 per player) or (ⅱ) US$4.00 per player; US$2.00 per player on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement |
| DVD-ROM Drive | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price (up to a maximum of US$8.00 per drive) or (ⅱ) US$4.00 per drive; US$2.00 per drive on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement |
| DVD-ROM Disc | US$0.075 per disc; US$0.065 per disc on or after January 1, 2002; US$0.05 per disc on or after January 1, 2004; US$0.04 per disc on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement; US$0.03 per disc for any semi-annual reporting period beginning on or after January 1, 2015, US$0.0275 per disc for any semi-annual reporting period beginning on or after January 1, 2016, and US$0.0225 per disc for any semi-annual reporting period beginning on or after January 1, 2017, for those licensees with no overdue or incorrect royalty reports or overdue or underpaid royalties (including back royalties) and otherwise in compliance with the New DVD6C License Agreement: (ⅰ) as of the due date for payment of royalties for the immediately preceding semi-annual reporting period, or (ⅱ) to qualify for the reduced rate for the first half of 2016, as of, and only if the New DVD6C License Agreement has been entered into on or before, July 31, 2016, provided that a licensee who otherwise qualifies for the US$0.0275, and/or US0.0225 per disc rate shall be subject to the US$0.04 per disc rate for any period for which an audit has revealed an underpayment of royalties of greater than 3%. |
| DVD-Video Disc | US$0.075 per disc; US$0.065 per disc on or after January 1, 2002; US$0.05 per disc on or after January 1, 2004; US$0.04 per disc on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement; US$0.03 per disc for any semi-annual reporting period beginning on or after January 1, 2015,US$0.0275 per disc for any semi-annual reporting period beginning on or after January 1, 2016, and US$0.0225 per disc for any semi-annual reporting period beginning on or after January 1, 2017, for those licensees with no overdue or incorrect royalty reports or overdue or underpaid royalties (including back royalties) and otherwise in compliance with the New DVD6C License Agreement: (ⅰ) as of the due date for payment of royalties for the immediately preceding semi-annual reporting period, or (ⅱ) to qualify for the reduced rate for the first half of 2016, as of, and only if the New DVD6C License Agreement has been entered into on or before, July 31, 2016, provided that a licensee who otherwise qualifies for the US$0.0275, and/or US0.0225 per disc rate shall be subject to the US$0.04 per disc rate for any period for which an audit has revealed an underpayment of royalties of greater than 3%. |
| DVD-Audio Disc | US$0.075 per disc; US$0.05 per disc on or after January 1, 2004; US$0.04 per disc on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement; US$0.03 per disc for any semi-annual reporting period beginning on or after January 1, 2015, US$0.0275 per disc for any semi-annual reporting period beginning on or after January 1, 2016, and US$0.0225 per disc for any semi-annual reporting period beginning on or after January 1, 2017, for those licensees with no overdue or incorrect royalty reports or overdue or underpaid royalties (including back royalties) and otherwise in compliance with the New DVD6C License Agreement: (ⅰ) as of the due date for payment of royalties for the immediately preceding semi-annual reporting period, or (ⅱ) to qualify for the reduced rate for the first half of 2016, as of, and only if the New DVD6C License Agreement has been entered into on or before, July 31, 2016, provided that a licensee who otherwise qualifies for the US$0.0275, and/or US0.0225 per disc rate shall be subject to the US$0.04 per disc rate for any period for which an audit has revealed an underpayment of royalties of greater than 3%. |
| DVD Decoder | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price or (ⅱ) US$1.00 per decoder; US$0.50 per decoder on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement |
| DVD Video Recorder | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price or (ⅱ) US$6.00 per recorder; US$4.00 per recorder on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement |
| DVD (Recordable Disc) Drive | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price or (ⅱ) US$6.00 per drive; US$4.00 per drive on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement |
| DVD Encoder | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price or (ⅱ) US$1.50 per encoder; US$0.75 per encoder on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement |
| DVD-R Disc | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price or (ⅱ) US$0.075 per disc, or US$0.045 per disc on or after January 1, 2006 |
| DVD-RW Disc | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price or (ⅱ) US$0.075 per disc, or US$0.065 per disc on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement |
| DVD-RAM Disc | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price or (ⅱ) US$0.075 per disc, or US$0.065 per disc on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement |
| Recordable Disc Case | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price or (ⅰ) US$0.005 per case |
| +R Disc | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price or (ⅱ) US$0.075 per disc, or US$0.045 per disc on or after January 1, 2006 |
| +RW Disc | The greater of: (ⅰ) 4% of the net selling price or (ⅱ) US$0.075 per disc, or US$0.065 per disc on or after the effective date of the New DVD6C License Agreement |
Please note that this patent licensing program does not cover video or audio compression patents (including, without limitation, MPEG-2 video compression, or AC-3, Dolby Digital or DTS audio compression) that may be applicable to DVD products or "CSS" (Content Scramble System) patent, "CPPM" (Copyright Protection for Pre-recorded Media) patent, or "CPRM" (Copyright Protection for Recordable Media) patent that may be applicable to DVD products, which are licensed through separate entities. Please also note that this patent licensing program does not cover Blu-ray Disc ("BD") products, irrespective of whether they include DVD functionality.
If you are interested in taking a license under this joint licensing program with respect to any of the categories set forth above, please complete the attached form and return the same to the following address
Upon receipt of the form, we will send you the DVD6C license agreement. For more information, please refer to our website at https://www.dvd6cla.com.
If you would like to inquire about the availability of a license to a category of products not included in this letter, or to fewer than all of the essential patents for any product category listed above, please write to the DVD6C licensing representative at the address set forth above. In this respect, please note that DVD6C may not be able to make all particular licenses requested available on a portfolio basis and reserves the right to refer the company making the request to the individual members of DVD6C, each of which has committed to making any of its essential patents for the product categories listed above available for licensing on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms.
This letter is without prejudice to any and all rights of the members of DVD6C, all of which are expressly reserved.
If you have any questions relating to this matter, please do not hesitate to contact the above.
With best regards,
