Call for Essential Patents Reading on the Digital Radio Mondiale Audio Standard; Process Will Lead to Joint Licensing of DRM Audio Patents.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2002 At the request of the Digital Radio Mondiale (communications) Digital Radio Mondiale - (DRM) A form of monaural digital broadcast using carrier frequencies below 30 MHz. DRM uses MPEG-4 AAC Main Profile and SBR at data rates of 16-25 kbps. http://drm.org/. (TM) (DRM (1) (Digital Radio Mondiale) A digital audio broadcasting (DAB) system for AM radio in Europe. See HD Radio. (2) (Digital Rights M (TM)) Consortium, Via Licensing Corporation is pleased to issue the following call for essential patents reading on the DRM Audio standard: Digital Radio Mondiale is a new, worldwide specification for over-the-air broadcasting. With near-FM quality sound that offers a dramatic improvement over analog AM, DRM promises to revitalize the AM broadcasting bands below 30 MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. in markets worldwide. DRM is the world's only nonproprietary, digital system for short-wave, medium-wave, and long-wave radio with the ability to use existing frequencies and bandwidth across the globe. DRM has been endorsed by the International Electrotechnical Commission See IEC. (standard, body) International Electrotechnical Commission - (IEC) A standardisation body at the same level as ISO. (IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iec.ch) An organization that sets international electrical and electronics standards founded in 1906. It is made up of national committees from over 60 countries. IEC - International Electrotechnical Commission ), which published its DRM Publicly Available Specification (PAS 62272-1) earlier this year. DRM has also received the endorsement of the International Telecommunication Union International Telecommunication Union (ITU), specialized agency of the United Nations, with headquarters at Geneva. It was created in 1934 as a result of the merging of the International Telegraph Union (est. (ITU (International Telecommunication Union, Geneva, Switzerland, www.itu.ch) A telecommunications standards body that is under the auspices of the United Nations. Comprising more than 185 member countries, the ITU sets standards for global telecom networks. ), which last month approved a recommendation (BS1514-1) of the DRM system for all broadcasting bands within the frequency range of 150 kHz to 30 MHz. The DRM system is expected to launch at the World Radiocommunication Conference World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) is organized by ITU to review, and, if necessary, revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the geostationary-satellite and non-geostationary-satellite orbits. , which convenes from June 9 to July 4, 2003, in Geneva Geneva, canton and city, Switzerland Geneva (jənē`və), Fr. Genève, canton (1990 pop. 373,019), 109 sq mi (282 sq km), SW Switzerland, surrounding the southwest tip of the Lake of Geneva. , Switzerland. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (body) European Telecommunications Standards Institute - (ETSI) A European version of the ITU-T(?). (ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute, Sophia Antipolis technical park, Nice, France, www.etsi.org) A non-profit membership organization founded in 1988, dedicated to standardizing information and communication technologies (ICT) throughout Europe. ) has published a technical specification of the DRM system. This document is called ETSI ES 201 980, Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM); System Specification. A copy of this specification is available for free download at the ETSI website at www.etsi.org. (Search for "DRM.") Any company that believes it has patents essential to the DRM Audio standard, and wishing to participate in the DRM Audio patent pool, is invited to submit its patents and supporting documents to the patent evaluator, identified below, along with the evaluation fee and a statement confirming its agreement with the objective of this process.
-- The objective of this process is to establish a pool of worldwide patents essential to the practice of the DRM audio standard in order to provide all DRM users with fair, reasonable, nondiscriminatory access to this technology under one license.
-- Essential patents will consist of those that are necessary for compliance with the DRM Audio specification.
-- An independent expert ("evaluator") will evaluate the patents for essentiality to the DRM Audio standard. For each patent submitted, an evaluation fee of US $6,500 shall be paid to the evaluator.
-- The evaluator will notify each company deemed to have an essential patent. The submitting company will be invited to contact the evaluation administrator in order to participate in upcoming meetings of the essential patent holders.
-- The evaluation administrator is charged with publicizing the patent submission process and convening meetings of the essential patent holders.
Evaluation Administrator: Via Licensing Corporation 999 Brannan Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: (415) 645-4777 Fax: (415) 645-4400 Email: DRM.Audio@vialicensing.com Evaluator: Mr. Gaetan Prince Brouillette Kosie Prince 1100 Rene-Levesque Boulevard West, 25th floor Montreal (Quebec) Canada H3B 5C9 Phone: (514) 397-6725 Fax: (514) 397-8515 Email: gp@bcf.ca About DRM Digital Radio Mondiale's founding members joined forces in 1998 to create a digital system (also called DRM) for the broadcasting bands below 30 MHz. The DRM Consortium has expanded to include 75 broadcasters, network operators, manufacturers, research institutions, broadcasting unions, and NGOs from 30 countries. DRM audio samples and additional information about the DRM Consortium are available online at www.drm.org. About Via Licensing Corporation Via Licensing Corporation develops and administers patent licensing programs or patent pools on behalf of innovative technology companies and for the convenience of licensees. Via Licensing Corporation is a subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, Inc. and benefits from the expertise, infrastructure, and strategic business relationships that Dolby has developed in more than 30 years of licensing into the consumer electronics and personal computing markets. Via Licensing is involved in the development and operation of licensing programs for both mandated and de facto [Latin, In fact.] In fact, in deed, actually. This phrase is used to characterize an officer, a government, a past action, or a state of affairs that must be accepted for all practical purposes, but is illegal or illegitimate. or emerging standards. For more information about Via Licensing Corporation, please visit www.vialicensing.com. |
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