Trying to collect royalties in China......................
chinaonline.com
DISC DISCORD: Patent fees upset DVD makers, China authorities
(15 November 2000) Six of the world's leading DVD developers announced a plan in Beijing to strengthen DVD patent licenses by demanding patent royalties from anyone who manufactures DVDs and DVD-related equipment.
The plan instantly created an uproar of opposition from the more than 100 DVD manufacturers and even from some authorities.
An official from the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) flatly said that six companies’ demands are excessive. He said it is impossible to accept the plan in its entirety. He pointed out that DVD core technology alone entails more than 2,000 patents registered by Japanese companies, the article said.
The six companies, known as 6C, are: Hitachi, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Time Warner Inc., Toshiba Corp. and JVC, reports the Nov. 14 Zhonghua Gongshang Shibao (China Business Times).
According to the plan, any DVD-maker must pay 6C either 4 percent of the net selling price of a DVD player or DVD-ROM player, or US$4 for each unit sold, whichever is higher.
Manufacturers must also pay either 4 percent of the net selling price or US$1, whichever is higher, for each DVD decoder sold. The 6C has set the patent fee for each DVD disc at US$0.075.
The Shanghai-based Chinese Association of Electronic Audio Products Industry has been given full authority to negotiate with 6C.
Chen Yaping, general manager of Sichuan Dingtian Microelectronics Co., said that 6C's demand is understandable, but the fees are too high, which will soften sales, the story said. |
