[Ip-health] Digtial television makers ask FCC to create patent pool for DTV patents, in order to avoid excessive royalities

[James Love]

Thanks to Konstantinos for bringing this to my attention.  Digital
television manufacturers are asking the FCC to mandate the establishment
of a patent pool for digital television with open licenses and
reasonable royalties.    The petition to the FCC focuses on the problems
of excessive royalties charged by two patent owners, for patents that
are needed to comply with an FCC standard.

KEI will consider supporting this petition.

Jamie


http://www.techweb.com/article/showArticle?articleID=212700600

TV Makers Petition FCC Over DTV Patent Royalties

Law360, New York (January 06, 2009) -- A coalition of television
manufacturers has petitioned the U.S. Federal Communications Commission
asking it to take steps to stop patent holders from charging excessive
license royalties for digital television intellectual property.

In a petition filed Friday with the FCC, a coalition that includes Vizio
Inc. and Westinghouse Digital Electronics Inc. asked the commission to
establish licensing pools for DTV patents

PRESS RELEASE OF ONE PARTICIPANT

VIZIO, America's HDTV Company, Vows Support for 'CUT FATT' Effort to
Reduce Excessive DTV Patent Licensing Fees

PRNewsWire News Releases
Published: 01/02/09 09:24 PM EST

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- VIZIO, America's HDTV Company,
announced today its support of the Coalition to Terminate Financial
Abuses of the Television Transmission. VIZIO is petitioning and urging
the FCC to take action and protect American consumers from excessive
patent charges for DTV that have already exceeded $1 Billion. The
coalition, also known as CUT FATT, was formed to protect American
consumers purchasing televisions from the excessive unregulated patent
fees, charged by companies claiming to own the patents needed to comply
with FCC standards for digital televisions (DTV). "At VIZIO we support
the American consumer, it is our duty to offer them more for their
money, therefore we support the efforts of the CUT FATT coalition," said
Laynie Newsome, VIZIO VP, Sales & Marketing Communications and
Co-Founder. Formed in mid-2008, CUT FATT's mission is to raise awareness
among Members of Congress and the FCC about the uncontrolled price
gouging of these patent holders. The petition asks the FCC to hold
abusive parties responsible for excess charges, and to impose new rules
for patent licensing to end the overcharging.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060307/LATU014LOGO-b)

Since July 1, 2007, the FCC has required that all televisions sold in
the U.S. include a digital tuner built to the requirements of the
Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). Holders of the patents
needed to meet these government-mandated requirements are demanding that
American consumers pay between twenty and thirty dollars per television
for the same patent rights that cost $1 or less in Europe, Japan and
other parts of the world. It is estimated that in 2008 and 2009 alone,
the aggregate royalty cost to American consumers will be well over one
billion dollars for fees that would total only about $65 million in
Europe and Japan. "Without action now, this abuse could continue for
many years. We believe that the FCC must declare that any DTV royalty
demands that exceed comparable international fees are a violation of FCC
rules. We believe that any patent holder seeking higher fees should be
required to prove to the FCC that their license fees are reasonable and
non-discriminatory. We also believe the FCC should initiate a rulemaking
proceeding in order to create a set of basic rules that apply to the
licensing of all patents that are required to implement the FCC-mandated
DTV receiver standards," states Laynie Newsome, VIZIO VP, Sales &
Marketing Communications and Co-Founder.

"This is the great untold story of the transition to digital
television," said Amos Snead, spokesman for CUT FATT. "Since 2007,
American consumers have been paying more than twenty to thirty times
what consumers in Europe and Japan pay in royalties for basically the
same technologies. What's worse, patent holders bundle allegedly
essential technology with worthless patents, jack up the rates, and
stick consumers with the bill. The FCC created this system, and it's
time for the FCC to fix it by establishing basic rules that make pricing
fair and transparent. American consumers are willing to pay a fair rate
but they are not willing to be victim to uncontrolled price gouging."

With more than 62,000 DTV sets sold every day, the total cost to
consumers for this rampant overcharging has already vastly exceeded the
cost of the transition subsidy provided to consumers through the NTIA
converter box program. Without action by the FCC or Congress, the high
fees will continue indefinitely.

For more information about CUT FATT contact Amos Snead at
amos.snead@dittus.com, 202-715-1531 or the VIZIO press contacts below.