NEWS RELEASECOMPREHENSIVE RESOLUTION OF PATENT ISSUE RELATING TO
DIGITAL CABLE BROADCASTERULDAGE and JCOM Co., Ltd. Agree on Execution of License Agreements
May 1, 2024
ULDAGE Inc.
ULDAGE Inc., the patent pool license administrator, is pleased to announce that, up to today, JCOM
Co., Ltd. and ULDAGE, after long-held negotiations, have executed license agreements for patents
relating to digital cable television broadcasting.
2K digital cable television broadcasting began at the same time as BS digital television broadcasting inDecember 2000 and ultra-high definition (4K) digital cable television broadcasting began in December
2015 (hereinafter collectively referred to as Digital Cable Television Broadcasting) are operated inaccordance with the JCTEA Standards developed by Japan CATV Technology Association and JLabs
Regulations in Practice developed by Japan Cable Laboratories as well as ARIB Standards developedby Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (hereinafter collectively referred to as CATVStandards). These standards reflect the technologies, proposals, and opinions of many people involved,
including broadcasters and equipment manufacturers, and naturally there are a number of essential
patented technologies and variety of patent holders thereof to implement Digital Cable Television
Broadcasting so that complicated individual license arrangements with each of the patent holders are
required which results in higher aggregate royalties due to stacking thereof.
ULDAGE was established in July 2006 in order to resolve such patent issue under the simple
arrangement with reasonable royalties and promote the growth of the digital television broadcasting
services and the Digital Cable Television Broadcasting services by gathering various patents relating to
the digital television broadcasting and the Digital Cable Television Broadcasting in one place and thenlicensing them as a package through the so-called patent pooling scheme.
Digital Cable Television Broadcasting cannot be realized unless both ends exist: the broadcasters which
send signals that comply with the CATV Standards and the receivers (STB, etc.) which receive suchsignals. Consequently, ULDAGE has long pursued negotiations with JCOM for license program ofDigital Cable Television Broadcasting.
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At present, ULDAGE has pooled approximately 500 (2K) digital cable television essential patentsowned by 15 companies and approximately 50 ultra-highdefinition digital cable television essential
patents owned by 9 companies. Under the licensing program for receivers (STBs) of (2K) digital cable
television broadcasting, which has already started in 2008, 8 companies are manufacturing and selling
the receivers (STBs) under the license agreement, and the program has contributed greatly to theestablishment of the environment for the expansion of access to (2K) digital cable television
broadcasting in relation to the complete transition from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting.
The recent execution of the license agreement with JCOM is groundbreaking in that a digital cabletelevision broadcaster now rewards the patent holders, namely, the developers of the relevant
technologies, by directly bearing an appropriate proportion of royalties for the use of such technologies.
As the result, digital cable television broadcasters who enter into the license agreement are entitled touse the essential patents for Digital Cable Television Broadcasting pooled in Uldage’s license programand can operate broadcasting business in a legitimate manner.
In the license agreement with JCOM, it’s agreed that royalties are paid based upon the number ofsubscribers of multi-channel services.

Uldage will proceed license arrangements with other digital

cable television broadcasters having more than 30,000 subscribers of multi-channel services to obtain apool license of essential patents for CATV Standards owned by a number of patent holders underreasonable conditions based upon the number of subscribers of multi-channel services.
For the digital cable television broadcasters having more than 30,000 subscribers of muti-channel
services, please contact following mailing address.
Mailing address: ｕｌｄａｇｅ＿ｃａｔｖ＠ｕｌｄａｇｅ．ｃｏｍ
Uldage already entered into the license agreements with Terrestrial digital broadcasting concluded with
129 stations in March 2013, BS digital broadcasting with 20 stations concluded in September 2015,
110degree CS digital broadcasting with 24 stations concluded in April 2018, ultra-high definition (4K)
BS digital broadcasting with 9 BS4K digital broadcasting stations concluded in August 2022 and ultrahigh definition (4K) CS digital broadcasting with SKY Perfect Entertainment Corporation concluded inJanuary 2024,
ULDAGE will continue to contribute to maintaining the environment for broadcasting business in astable manner and to the fair sharing of patent royalties.
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About ULDAGE Inc.
ULDAGE Inc. was established in July 2006 for the purpose of providing tools for revitalizing businessby creating a competitive environment through collaboration and resolution of patent issues in thiscomplex digital age. ULDAGE Inc. undertakes its business by granting licenses for essential patents
held by multiple parties in a single package (by the patent pooling method) which offers convenience toboth patent holders and business operators.
Location:

Yusen Bldg., 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Phone:+81-(0)3-6256-0150

President & CEO:

Shuichi Endo

Stated Capital:

60,000,000 yen

Shareholders:

JVC KENWOOD Corporation

14.29%

Sharp Corporation

14.29%

Sony Group Corporation

14.29%

Toshiba Corporation

14.29%

Panasonic Holdings Corporation

14.29%

Maxell Co., Ltd.

14.29%

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

14.29%

FAX:

3+81-(0)3-6256-0151