Blu-ray Founders Working on One-Stop Blu-ray Licensing

Panasonic, Philips, and Sony are currently working with Blu-ray Disc patent holders in order to create a "one-stop shop" for Blu-ray player and disc licensing. The new company, which would be led by former head of IP at IBM Mr. Gerald Rosenthal, would be based in the United States with satellite offices in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Mr. Rosenthal commented, "By establishing a new licensing entity that offers a single license for Blu-ray Disc products at attractive rates, I am confident that it will foster the growth of the Blu-ray Disc market and serve the interest of all companies participating in this market, be it as licensee or licensor."

If all patent holders agree, those looking to produce Blu-ray Disc products would be charged a flat fee which would then fund a patent pool. Hardware manufacturers would be charged $9.50 for a Blu-ray Disc player and $14.00 for a recorder. Disc manufacturers would be charged $0.11 for a read-only disc, $0.12 for a recordable disc, and $0.15 for a rewritable Blu-ray disc.

When the program launches (currently scheduled for mid-2009, pending approval), the companies sees this a creating a level playing field for independent and corporate manufacturers alike.