[M4IF Discuss] PR: CableLabs® Promotes Pooling of OCAP Patents

[Craig Birkmaier]

CableLabs® Promotes Pooling of OCAP Patents
Mike Schwartz
303-661-9100
m.schwartz   cablelabs.com
Louisville, Colorado, May 6, 2024 - Cable Television Laboratories, 
Inc. (CableLabs®) announced today that it will facilitate the 
formation of a patent pool for its OpenCable Application Platform 
(OCAP) digital set-top box middleware specification. The objective 
is to create a "one-stop-shop" licensing mechanism for intellectual 
property rights that may be necessary to implement the OCAP 
specification.
Patent holders who believe they have patent claims essential to the 
implementation of OCAP should submit a declaration to the law firm of 
Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (see below for contact information), with 
a copy going to CableLabs. CableLabs has hired Wilmer, Cutler & 
Pickering (WCP) to independently assess the essentiality of patent 
claims with respect to implementation of the OCAP standard. WCP was 
also chosen by the European DVB Project to serve as the patent 
coordinator for the Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) middleware 
specification. The OCAP specification is an adaptation of the MHP 
specification for North American cable systems.
Under the arrangement with WCP, patent declarants will submit a 
$3,500 fee to WCP for each patent. For the single fee, WCP will 
assess claim essentiality for both the OCAP specification and the MHP 
specification. WCP will maintain the strictest confidentiality and 
independence when reviewing submitted declarations.
When a "critical mass" of essential patent claims has been 
identified, the relevant patent holders will be invited to form a 
patent licensing pool. A license administrator for the patent pool 
will be chosen at that time. This process is similar to the process 
used by CableLabs in the successful formation of the MPEG-2 patent 
pool.
It is CableLabs' strong preference that essential patent rights are 
made available on a royalty-free basis. Sun Microsystems has already 
agreed to make the required Sun Java technology available on a 
royalty-free basis. Patent holders participating in the CableLabs 
patent pool process may include a nominal royalty if offered on a 
fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory basis under the CableLabs 
OpenCable IPR Policy.
Dr. Richard R. Green, President and CEO of CableLabs, said: "Now that 
the OCAP 1.0 Specification has been released, we can begin to 
identify the essential patents, and make sure that they are available 
to all OCAP implementers in an efficient manner, and on terms that 
are reasonable and non-discriminatory. As with the licensing scheme 
fostered by CableLabs for MPEG, our efforts to form a patent pool 
will serve to benefit vendors, patent holders, and consumers alike. 
The pool will also accelerate the introduction of OpenCable products 
and services into the marketplace."
Additional information on the OpenCable project, including a copy of 
the OCAP Specification, may be found at www.opencable.com..
CableLabs is a research and development consortium comprised of cable 
television system operators worldwide. CableLabs plans and funds 
research and development projects that will help cable companies take 
advantage of future opportunities and meet future challenges in the 
cable television industry.
In addition, CableLabs acts as a clearinghouse to provide information 
on current and prospective technological developments that are of 
interest to the cable industry. CableLabs maintains web sites at 
www.cablelabs.com; www.packetcable.com; www.cablemodem.com; 
www.cablenet.org; and www.opencable.com.
Patent declarations should be sent to:
Wilmer Cutler & Pickering
2445 M Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037-1420
Attention: John W. Ryan or Ashok K. Mannava
E-mail: jryan   wilmer.com or amannava   wilmer.com