Sony BluRay Patent Claim Fact Checked
“Sony holds the patent for BluRays, 20% of BluRay sales go to them. Manufacturing firms have to pay them per contract. DVD has been patent less to make it the dominant format over Video; also it was co developed by Sony and Panasonic, so they gambled on it and made the patent free of use to force DVD into every household. BluRay was Sony on their own without a second developer involved they’d have to share profits with”
Summary
Sony holds some Blu‑ray patents but the technology is licensed through the Blu‑ray Disc Association, a multi‑company consortium, and royalties are shared among members—not a fixed 20 % of sales to Sony. DVD was also created by a consortium (including Sony, Panasonic, Philips, etc.) whose patents were offered on a royalty‑free or low‑royalty basis to promote widespread adoption. Therefore the claim that Sony alone controls Blu‑ray patents and profits, and that DVD was made patent‑free by Sony, is inaccurate.
Sources 60 searched
- Sony, LG Electronics settle bitter patent dispute | Reuters
LG Electronics and Sony said on Thursday that they have resolved patent disputes between the two firms spanning smartphones, TVs and Blu-ray technology, with LG adding that they have signed a cross-licensing deal.
- Sony, Others Investigated for Patent Infringement - CBS News
There are some big names being investigated this time around by the U.S. ITC: Hitachi, Ltd., LG Electronics, Nokia, Pioneer, Samsung, Sanyo Electric, Sharp Electronics, Sony Ericsson Mobile and Toshiba. But Sony's Bluray is capturing a lot of the headlines because Bluray just won a long standards battle against Toshiba.
- Blu-ray Disc Association - Wikipedia
Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is the industry consortium that develops and licenses Blu-ray technology and is responsible for establishing format standards and promoting business opportunities for Blu-ray Disc. The BDA is divided into three levels of membership: the board of directors, ...
- Blu-ray - Wikipedia
The higher-capacity discs, according to Sony, would be readable on existing Blu-ray Disc players with a firmware upgrade. This technology was later used on BDXL discs. On July 20, 2010, the research team of Sony and Japanese Tohoku University announced the joint development of a blue-violet laser, to help create Blu-ray Discs with a capacity of 1 TB using only two layers (and potentially more than 1 TB with additional layering).
- How long until Sony's patents on Blu-ray run out? - Blu-ray Forum
How long until Sony's patents on Blu-ray run out? Blu-ray Technology and Future Technology
- Sony Can't Shake Blu-Ray Automatic Playback Patent Suit | Robins Kaplan LLP Law Firm
That's not surprising since the validity of the patents has been confirmed during reexamination by the patent office." Law360, New York (December 03, 2012, 9:56 PM ET) -- Sony Corp. on Monday failed in its bid to escape TV Interactive Data Corp.'s suit in California federal court accusing a host of electronics companies of making Blu-ray and DVD players that infringe four patents covering automatic playback technology.
- What Retailers Should Know About Blu-ray Disc™ Patent Protection
23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With merchants already gearing up for the busy holiday shopping season, One-Blue, LLC has developed a series of guidelines for consumer goods retailers to help them comply with a licensing, registration and labeling program governing the sale and distribution of products covered by Blu-ray Disc™ products patents.
- Sony Part Of Blu-Ray Patent Investigation
The U.S. International Trade Commission is reportedly looking into patent infringement allegations related to Blu-ray disc players and other products, and has included Sony in its investigation.
- The hidden reason behind some studios dropping bluray | AVForums
Part of the reason for moving to UHD/4K is to renew patents (licensing control) for another few decades. Distributors know the film physical media game is up and that's why they've reversed the stupid region coding system on UHD. We don't want your money, thanks. I'm still buying DVDs unfortunately where there's no Blu-ray but what I find myself doing is getting a hold of a HD source then burning that to a DVD9 (a 4GB MKV looks fantastic compared to DVD video VOBs).
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