Sisvel Announces Launch of DVB-T2 Patent Pool

Joint Licensing Program Offers Convenient Access to Essential Patents

AMSTERDAM, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- At IBC today, Sisvel announced the launch of a new joint patent licensing program, or patent pool, offering a license under patents essential to DVB-T2, the latest standard for digital terrestrial transmission with advanced modulation and coding techniques for highly efficient delivery of audio, video and data services. The program has been launched with a portfolio of essential DVB-T2 patents owned by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), DTVG Licensing, France Telecom, Nokia, SIDSA, TDF (Telediffusion de France), and Telecom Bretagne. In addition, a number of other patent owners are expected to join the pool in the coming weeks.

The portfolio license offered by Sisvel includes the following per unit royalty rates for DVB-T2 television sets or set-top boxes:

             Units per Year             Royalty Rate per Unit

             1 to 2,000,000                          euro 1.00

         2,000,001 to 4,000,000               euro 0.90

          4,000,001 and above                 euro 0.80

Detailed information regarding the terms and conditions of the portfolio license are available directly from Sisvel.

The portfolio license makes essential DVB-T2 patents more easily accessible and ensures that all users of this technology will benefit from the flexibility and practicality of the license terms available under this new program.

Nick Wells, chairman of the DVB-T2 Technical Working Group, and winner of the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Engineering Excellence Award 2010, said "This new program will promote rapid adoption of the DVB-T2 standard by adding more transparency and predictability in the cost of IP licensing. It is remarkable that such a prominent group has been able to finalize and launch this program on the first anniversary of the publication of the standard by ETSI." Giustino de Sanctis, Managing Director of Sisvel Germany, GmbH explained that "The availability of the portfolio license will give more certainty to countries and organizations that have already adopted the DVB-T2 standard, as well as to those considering its adoption."

The joint DVB-T2 licensing program remains open to additional patent owners, and Sisvel invites all parties with patents believed to be essential to the DVB-T2 standard to contact Sisvel and submit those patent(s) for an evaluation of essentiality by the program's designated, independent evaluator.

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 as a formal standard ETSI EN 302 755 in September 2009.

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 http://www.sisvel.com.