SISVEL Announces Progress in the Formation of the DVB-T2 Patent Pool

AMSTERDAM -

- Efforts of the Patent Owners directed to enabling an early and wide adoption of the DVB-T2 standard to the benefit of consumers and broadcasters

On the occasion of IBC2009 and ETSI approving the specification for the DVB-T2 Standard (ETSI EN 302 755), the most advanced technology for broadcasting digital TV on terrestrial networks, SISVEL announces that it has been coordinating meetings among owners of patent rights that have been evaluated as essential to the DVB-T2 standard by independent experts.

The companies participating in these meetings are leading broadcasters, network operators, consumer electronics companies, R&D centers, as well as service providers and include: the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), DTVG Licensing (a subsidiary of DIRECTV), ETRI, France Telecom, TDF, LG Electronics, Nokia, Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), Samsung, SIDSA, and Telecom Bretagne.

The objective of this initiative is to establish a patent pool to make the DVB-T2 technology accessible to all users on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms and conditions.

SISVEL is happy to report that the patent owners have already agreed on the following principles for the structure of a DVB-T2 patent pool:

- No use fee for DVB-T2 broadcasting. - A royalty rate not exceeding 1 Euro per standard DVB-T2 television set or set top box. Early adoption and volume-based incentives are being considered.

If in the future the DVB-T2 standard is implemented in additional product categories, the patent owners will discuss and decide an appropriate royalty schedule for such products.

Nick Wells, chair of the DVB-T2 working group, said “This early patent pooling initiative is widely supported in order to give certainty and confidence to countries and organizations considering the adoption of the new DVB-T2 standard for new digital TV services. I am very pleased with the progress that the patent owners have been able to achieve under the coordination of SISVEL and I hope and expect that our efforts will lead to the early and wide adoption of the DVB-T2 standard to the benefit of consumers and broadcasters.”

About DVB-T2

DVB-T2 is the most advanced standard for broadcasting digital TV on terrestrial networks offering a substantial increase in transmission capacity compared to current systems. The DVB-T2 Standard was published in the form of a Blue Book by the DVB on June 2008 (see www.dvb.org) and has been converted by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute, see www.etsi.org) into the formal standard ETSI EN 302 755.

About SISVEL

Started in 1982 when Sisvel S.p.A. was founded in Italy, the Sisvel Group has become a world leader in managing intellectual property and maximizing the value of patent rights. The Sisvel Group is global in scope and reach, with companies in Italy (Sisvel in None Torinese and Edico in Rome), the United States (Sisvel US and Audio MPEG in Metropolitan Washington, DC), China (Sisvel Hong Kong), Japan (Sisvel Japan in Tokyo), and Germany (Sisvel Germany in Stuttgart), and with more than seventy professionals worldwide with technical, legal, and licensing expertise. SISVEL has a long history of managing successful patent portfolios including those related to the audio compression standards known as MP3 and MPEG Audio, and widespread technologies such as OSD (On Screen Display), ATSS (Automatic Tuning & Sorting System), and WSS (Wide Screen Signaling - for automatic switching of television image formats). Most recently SISVEL has been appointed as the administrator of patent pools for the UHF-RFID, CDMA 2000 and DVB-T standards.

For additional information regarding DVB-T2 or Sisvel, please visit www.sisvel.com.

Source: SISVEL

Massimo Mancin, Technical Contact, +39-011-9904114, dvb-t2 at sisvel.com, or Media Contact: Federica Brotto, +39-011-9904114, press at sisvel.com, both of Sisvel