December 11, 2017
Dear Madam/Sir:
On behalf of the DVD6C Licensing Group (DVD6C), we are pleased to inform you that DVD6C has revised its worldwide patent licensing program beginning on and after January 1, 2018, including offering a new DVD license agreement, which offers reduced royalty rates for DVD Players to licensees in good standing.
Under the new licensing program, the royalty rates for DVD Players (DVD-Video Players, DVD-Audio Players, and DVD-ROM Drives) shall be reduced from US$1.75 to (i) US$1.50 per DVD Player for all DVD Players sold or otherwise transferred on or after January 1, 2018 through and including December 31, 2018, and (ii) US$1.25 per DVD Player for all DVD Players sold or otherwise transferred on or after January 1, 2019, for licensees in good standing, i.e., licensees who have no overdue or incorrect royalty reports or overdue or underpaid royalties (including back royalties) and are otherwise in compliance with their license agreement with DVD6C. These reduced royalty rates will be available to such licensees for DVD Players sold or otherwise transferred during any reporting period beginning on or after January 1, 2018, provided that the licensee was in good standing as of the due date for payment of royalties for the immediately preceding reporting period. Licensees shall not be considered in good standing for any period for which an audit has revealed an underpayment of royalties of greater than 3%.
Please note that Blu-ray Disc (“BD”) products, irrespective of whether they include DVD functionality, are not covered by this new royalty program.
If you wish to take advantage of the new royalty program, please complete the attached form and return the same to the following address:
Upon receipt of the form, we will send you a new DVD license agreement. Only those licensees who enter into a new DVD license agreement will be eligible for the reduced royalty rates. For more information, please refer to our website at https://www.dvd6cla.com.
Please note that the DVD6C patent license is a voluntary license offered as a convenience to the licensee. Because of the expiration of many essential patents for certain DVD formats, there may be no essential patents for such DVD formats in the countries where your DVD products are manufactured or sold, and that if your DVD products implement certain DVD formats incompletely or partially, there may be some patents that are not used, including in the manufacture of your DVD products, even though the patents are essential for implementing mandatory or optional sections of such DVD formats. Therefore, you should confirm that there are one or more essential patents owned by DVD6C members to be used in your DVD products when you enter into the new DVD license agreement or pay royalties. Please refer to the Patent List on the DVD6C website (https://www.dvd6cla.com/list.html)．The licensee will pay the same specified royalty if one or more patents in the patent portfolio would, absent a license, be infringed. However, your company is also free to negotiate individual license agreements with DVD6C’s member companies, rather than taking out a portfolio license for all or any particular category of DVD products. The member companies have committed to provide such licenses under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions.
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,
- Enclosure: Application Form
