Via Licensing Corporation, a Dolby Labs subsidiary that develops and administers patent licensing programs and patent pools on behalf of technology companies and standards bodies, has announced the availability of a joint patent license for patents that are essential to the implementation of the TV-Anytime Phase 1 interactive TV standard (TVA-1 standard).
The standard was developed by the TV-Anytime Forum, and is published by ETSI as TS 102 822. It addresses the means by which viewers will be able to search, select, and acquire broadcast and online audiovisual content via PVR's. The goal of the joint patent license, which is targeted at consumer electronics manufacturers and pay-TV providers, is to streamline the process--and thus reduce the cost--of obtaining the various patents incorporated into the standard. Those patents are owned by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), France Telecom, LG Electronics, NDS, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, and Sharp Electronics.
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