Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Thomson Licensing, Toshiba Corporation and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment today announced that they have formed the BD4C licensing group for Blu-ray and DVD patents. The BD4C Licensing Group, which begun on March 1, 2010, will offer licensing services for Blu-ray ("BD") and DVD patents essential for BD decoders, BD encoders, BD players, BD read-only discs, BD recordable discs, BD drives, BD/DVD hybrid discs and BD recorders, including BD Products that incorporate DVD functionality.

The group was formed in an effort to offer licensees an one-stop shopping for the essential Blu-ray and DVD patents owned or controlled by the four companies. Licenses for the portfolio will be available for products that comply with the specifications for the BD formats promulgated by the Blu-ray Disc Association.

Interested parties are also free to negotiate separate license agreements, rather than taking a single portfolio license, with each of the four companies.

The companies have authorized Toshiba to act as licensor for the BD4C Licensing Group in licensing their essential BD patents for this joint licensing program.

Royalties under the terms of the portfolio license will be as follows: