MPEG-2 Patent Owners Sue Target Corporation for MPEG-2 Patent Infringement

Business Wire, April 21, 2008

DENVER -- MPEG LA, LLC, world leader in alternative one-stop patent licenses, today announced that several MPEG-2 patent owners have filed an enforcement action in the Federal District Court of the Southern District of New York against Target Corporation ("Target") and Doe Corporations 1-10, fictitious names for corporations currently unknown to the plaintiffs, for infringing patents essential to the MPEG-2 digital video compression standard used worldwide in digital television broadcasting and DVD.

According to the complaint, Target offers in its retail stores a variety of products under its Trutech[R] house brand name, such as digital televisions and DVD players, that use patent protected MPEG-2 methods without having entered into licenses with the individual patent holders or a portfolio license that includes these patents offered by MPEG LA. The complaint also alleges that at Target's request the Doe Corporations manufacture and produce the unlicensed products for sale by Target under Target's Trutech[R] brand name, but these Doe Corporations are not believed to be licensed or paying royalties on Target's behalf.

"We have offered Target a license, but regrettably they have refused," said MPEG LA CEO Larry Horn. "We join those patent owners whose technologies Target is using without benefit of license and those companies who are licensed and paying their fair share of royalties in the hope that these actions finally will get their attention."

The suit seeks, among other things, monetary damages and an injunction prohibiting Target from using MPEG-2 patents in its products and from offering, marketing, or importing them.

MPEG LA, LLC

MPEG LA is the world leader in alternative technology licenses, enabling users to acquire worldwide patent rights necessary for a technology standard or platform from multiple patent holders in a single transaction as an alternative to negotiating separate licenses. Wherever an independently administered one-stop patent license would provide a convenient marketplace alternative to assist users with implementation of their technology choices, the licensing model pioneered and employed by MPEG LA may provide a solution. Among MPEG LA's licenses is one for MPEG-2 digital video compression that has helped produce the most widely employed standard in consumer electronics history. The MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License, which includes more than 825 MPEG-2 essential patents in 57 countries, has more than 1300 licensees accounting for most MPEG-2 products including set-top boxes, DVD players, digital television sets, personal computers and DVD Video Discs in the current world market. MPEG LA is an independent licensing administrator; it is not related to any standards agency and is not an affiliate of any patent holder. For more information, please refer to http://www.mpegla.com.