Who are the G.729.1 licensors represented by Sipro Lab Telecom?
Sipro represents the following G.729.1 licensors: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, France Telecom SA, Koninklijke KPN N.V, Ltd, Mindspeed Technologies, Inc, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, NTT DOCOMO, Inc., Panasonic Corporation, Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Toshiba Corporation and VoiceAge Corporation. These licensors have pooled their rights in a joint license agreement that presents many benefits in terms of :
- reducing duplicate costs and saving on administrative expenses
- avoiding protracted negotiations on licensing terms and conditions with each patent owner
- offering high-quality interoperable products
- gaining competitive advantage by getting their products to market more quickly
What is a patent license agreement and what does it include?
The sole purpose of the G.729.1 patent license agreement is to grant patent rights, that is, the right to use and/or distribute G.729.1-compliant products. It is important to note that no software code is delivered, nor any technical help to implement the source code in the licensee’s products, nor other kinds of services.
Is the G.729.1 Consortium License required only when the ITU-T G.729.1 standard is used for encoding signals?
No. The license is required for both encoding and/or decoding signals.
What is a channel?
A channel refers to the capacity to handle a single point-to-point voice conversation data stream, be it unidirectional or bidirectional, on a continuous or sequential basis.
What does the initial fee pay for?
The initial fee is for administrative purposes only. The amount is paid only ONCE at the signing of the agreement. The initial fee does not provide any prepaid number of channels.
What is the minimum annual fee and how does it apply?
The minimum annual fee is a minimum annual financial commitment required for keeping the agreement active for its term. The minimum annual fee is payable at the first anniversary date of the agreement (prepaid at the beginning of the year) and every subsequent year for the term of the agreement. This amount is not payable on top of the license fee but is rather a yearly prepayment from which the channels will be deducted. Unused amounts cannot be carried over to the next year.
What kind of products must be licensed for the G.729.1 standard?
Any end-product using G.729.1 must be licensed for the practice of the G.729.1 patents. Qualifying end-products typically include access devices, audio/video conferencing equipment, call center equipment, IP phones or other VoIP handsets, IP/PBXs, media servers/gateways, voice recording applications, test equipment, softphones, etc.
What is a licensed product?
A licensed product is a product for which licensing fees have been paid to the patent owners and for which the licensee has obtained the IPR coverage under a patent licensing agreement. The product is then covered for its lifetime.
If I already have a G.729 License Agreement do I also need to take a G.729.1 License Agreement?
You are required to take a G.729.1 license agreement if you are (using, distributing) G.729.1-compliant products. Please note that even though G.729.1 is interoperable with G.729, a G.729.1 license agreement is required whenever the ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector) G.729.1 recommendation is used in an end-product.
Can we negotiate the prices?
No. When the patent owners made their patent declaration to the ITU-T, the standardization body for the G.729.1 recommendation, they promised to grant access to their patents to all under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. Therefore, all licensees must be offered the same licensing terms and conditions, including pricing.
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