The WCDMA Patent Platform's (PlatformWCDMA) Licensing Rate Revisions
>> 3G Terminal Patent Holders Lower Royalty Fees
John Walko (London)
EE Times Europe
04/17/2008
eetimes.com
The companies that hold a major portfolio of patents on W-CDMA third generation technology for handheld devices within the 3G Licensing group have agreed to revised royalty rates for a further 5 years beginning January 2009.
3G Licensing (Stamford, England), the administrator of the licensing programme, said the revised rates, agreed between the companies within PlatformWCDMA Ltd, would be between $1.00 and $2.00 for each WCDMA terminal product for new licensees and only $1.00 for licensees that have been licensed for two years or more.
"This is a substantial and enormous reduction, about 33 percent for first time licensers and 66 percent for longer term users. It sets the benchmark for the rest of the companies holding essential IPR for W-CDMA terminals," 3G Licensing director Brian Kearsey told EE Times Europe.
Companies within the PlatformWCDMA group include Siemens, NTT, NTT DoCoMo, NEC, SK Telecom, France Telecom, Mitsubishi and Fujitsu, with Panasonic in discussions to join the group.
The three other key patent holders for the technology, Qualcomm Inc, Nokia and Ericsson charge significantly more for use of their patents, typically 5 percent of the net selling price of a terminal. "I cannot say whether they will reduce the royalty fees as well, but our move will definitely put a great deal of pressure on them to follow suit," Kearsey added.
He said the new levels of royalty for the WCDMA technology (and its evolutions such as HSDPA, HSPA and HSUPA) will further catalyze the development of the UMTS market worldwide. The patent flow will change when Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology handsets and data cards kick in since, although a member of the 3GPP family of standards, LTE uses different radio specifications.
Earlier this week, some of the world's biggest hitters in the mobile communications equipment sector joined forces to establish rules for licensing patents related to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.
The aim was to avoid the bitter patent and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) rows that broke out during the development of third generation mobile equipment.
"One of the reasons we could reach our agreement is because of the market forecasts for 3G and its evolutions", said Kearsey. It is predicted the number of terminals will increase from about 85 million units now to perhaps 800 million by 2013, which includes data cards for PCs and embedded devices in computers for accessing wireless broadband.
"With those sorts of volumes, the licensors can afford to take something of a hit on royalties, particularly as the price of terminals and chips will reduce substantially and thus volumes increase."
In a statement, PlatformWCDMA Director & Chairman, Hisashi Kato commented: "As recent 3G mobile terminals are increasingly developing in embedding music, moving pictures and even broadcast features in addition to voice communication, terminal manufacturers must comply with various standards, not merely WCDMA, but also video, speech, broadcast, and others. The royalties payable to numerous patentees under these standards are expensively accumulating so that the competition in this market is intensifying to meet the demand of multi-functionalities of WCDMA terminals while manufacturers have to bear accumulative royalties."
Kato added the reduced royalty scheme agreed with 3G Licensing would provide a "satisfactory solution" for the mobile terminal industry's dilemma. ###
>> 3G Mobile Terminal Patent Licensing Programme Renews Joint License Agreement with Reduced Royalty Rates
Press Announcement
3G Licensing (Stamford, UK)
16 April 2008
3glicensing.com
Today, 3G Licensing, the licensing administrator of the WCDMA Patent Licensing Programme, announced the publication of new royalty rates under a renewed Joint License Agreement for Terminals, JLAV4.0, for the period 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2013 (5 years).
A royalty of between U.S. $1.00 and U.S. $2.00 for each WCDMA terminal product for new licensees and a royalty of U.S. $1.00 for licensees that have been licensed for two years or more has been agreed by PlatformWCDMA Limited. The new royalty rates will apply for the 5 year period from 1 January 2009 and represent a reduction over the current license offer whilst at the same time offering a larger essential patent portfolio with more patent owners. There are fidelity discounts triggering royalty reductions after one year and two years.
JLAV4.0 delivers a license for the period 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2013 (10 years) providing transparency for prospective licensees on essential patents from a large number of major essential patent owners. Currently, there is a significant worldwide essential patent family portfolio available under the terminal license representing a substantial proportion of the overall number of essential patent families for the WCDMA technology. It is anticipated that more patent owners will join.
“We are pleased that the essential patent owners have released commercially attractive royalty rates covering a period of the next five years for a substantial portfolio of WCDMA essential patents certified by an independent third party“ said 3G Licensing Director Brian Kearsey. “These levels of royalty for the WCDMA technology (and its evolutions such as HSDPA and HSUPA) will further catalyse the development of the UMTS market worldwide.”
PlatformWCDMA Director & Chairperson, Hisashi Kato commented "As recent 3G mobile terminals are increasingly developing in embedding music, moving pictures and even broadcast features in addition to voice communication, terminal manufacturers must comply with various standards, not merely WCDMA, but also video, speech, broadcast, and others. The royalties payable to numerous patentees under these standards are expensively accumulating so that the competition in this market is intensifying to meet the demand of multi-functionalities of WCDMA terminals while manufacturers have to bear accumulative royalties. This reduced royalty scheme is believed to provide a truly satisfactory solution for the mobile terminal industries suffering from the aforementioned dilemma. We are confident that PlatformWCDMA is the core standard license provider on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms to access our essential patents covered worldwide, and is expected to be even more enhanced by new patent holders joining in the future."
Today more than 85 million terminals are licensed under the licensing programme and the number is likely to increase substantially with the launch of this new terminal license.
About 3G Licensing
3G Licensing Limited is responsible for the commercialisation worldwide of the W-CDMA Patent Licensing Programme. The scope of the programme covers the W-CDMA standards defined by 3GPP (including WCDMA FDD, and the planned evolution such as HSDPA and HSUPA). 3G Licensing is incorporated in England, UK and located in Stamford, UK.
About PlatformWCDMA
PlatformWCDMA Limited is a company registered and incorporated in England that was established in September 2003 specifically to govern the W-CDMA Patent Licensing Programme. Membership of PlatformWCDMA is open to all W-CDMA FDD essential patent holders and its prime role is to establish the licensing terms and conditions of the W-CDMA Patent Licensing Programme (the list of members/licensors may be found at 3glicensing.com . The day-to-day operations of the W-CDMA Patent Licensing Programme are assigned to the Licensing Administrator, 3G Licensing. ###
Members licensors of the W-CDMA Patent Licensing Programme include and are limited to Siemens, NTT, NTT DoCoMo, NEC, SK Telecom, France Telecom, Mitsubishi and Fujitsu, with Panasonic (Matsushita) considering membership.
- Eric - |
