MPEG LA Sue DVD Disc Manufacturer ODS for Patent Infringement

Source: http://www.mpegla.com/news/n_05-08-02PR.pdf

• (Denver, Colorado, US – 02 August 2005) – MPEG LA today announced that several leading electronics companies and a university have filed suit in Germany against Optical Disc Service (“ODS”) for infringing patents used in DVD disc manufacturing. Plaintiffs include France Télécom, S.A.; Fujitsu Ltd., GE Technology Development, Inc.; Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Robert Bosch GmbH; Sony Corporation; Thomson Licensing S.A., The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, and Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. “We regret that ODS’s refusal to take a license with individual patent holders or with MPEG LA has made it necessary for these companies to decide to take legal action ,” said MPEG LA CEO Baryn S. Futa. “ODS’s continued use of MPEG-2 essential patents without a license is unfair to both patent holders and DVD manufacturers who are meeting their MPEG-2 intellectual property obligations. It also leaves their customers exposed to patent infringement liability. DVD manufacturers need a license under MPEG-2 essential patents, and MPEG LA hopes ODS will rectify this unfairness immediately.”

Chronology

• 2005-08-04 DE Heise: DVD manufacturer reacts to accusations by MPEG patent holders

• 2005-08-04 WW Businesswire: Leading Companies and University Sue DVD Disc Manufacturer ODS for Patent Infringement