CMC Magnetics and Ritek have reached a consensus with Royal Philips Electronics about new licensing terms for Philips' CD-R and DVD+R/-R patents. New contracts are to be signed as early as the end of 2008, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Philips Intellectual Property & Standards' Taiwan general manager James Li confirmed the deals, saying that the new licensing will be effective until 2012. Philips has included CMC and Ritek on its list licensees, meaning that the two companies should not meet barriers when they or their customers attempt to export CD-R and DVD+R/-R discs, Li noted. To protect the interest of its licensees, Philips will strengthen its coordination with customs officials in main markets to block unlicensed optical disc imports, Li pointed out.

The new licensing will allow CMC and Ritek to gain the upper hand over India-based Moser Baer India (MBI) in the US, Europe and Japan markets. MBI has been the Taiwan makers' largest global competitor but has not yet accepted Philips' licensing terms, the industry sources indicated.

Following CMC and Ritek, second-tier Taiwan-based makers including Gigastorage, Daxon Technology and Lead Data are expected to accept Philips' new licensing terms as well, the sources noted. (Source: DigiTimes).

Story filed 09.12.08