Philips warns unlicensed DVD+R makers in Taiwan

August 17, 2004

GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that Philips is taking
action against companies that have not properly licensed the DVD+R format. In
order to manufacturer DVD+R(W) discs and drives a manufacturer needs to purchase
a license from the patent holders of the format, the same applies to DVD-R(W)
and DVD-RAM. However some smaller Taiwanese companies. The large Taiwanese DVD
disc manufacturers have bought a license, smaller ones hesitate.

Taiwan's
top producers of optical discs, including CMC Magnetics, Ritek and Prodisc
Technology, are licensed to use Philips DVD+R technology, while
second-tier and smaller makers are not licensed.As
Philips' DVD+R patents also cover CD-R technology, there is some ambiguity
about the DVD+R royalty claim. This is why disc makers are unwilling to
pay the royalty, unlicensed Taiwan users explained.

Although Philips has not yet taken legal
proceedings, Taiwan optical disc makers that have received a warning from
the company are watching to see how the situation
develops.

More information can be found in the original article on
Digitimes.com. Altough Philips has not taken any legal actions,
the company did notify the customs and distributors and the company expects
those to block the Taiwanese discs until the license fees have been
paid.

Source: Digitimes.com