Via Licensing Announces a Call for AGORA-C Patents

Via Licensing Corporation announced a call for patents essential to ISO Standard ISO 17572-3 Intelligent Transport System (ITS)—Location Referencing for Geographic Databases—Part 3: Dynamic Location References, also known as AGORA-C. All owners of patents likely to be essential to this standard are invited to submit their patents for evaluation, with a view to participate in the formation of a joint license covering AGORA-C essential patents.

The AGORA-C standard is designed to improve the real-time accuracy of GPS and to allow the development of enhanced navigation services. AGORA-C specifies a method for dynamic encoding and decoding of location references—that is, the unique identification of geographic objects such as road junctions, exit ramps, and postal addresses—into any map, without requiring predefined location codes or lookup tables. AGORA-C will notably be implemented in navigation systems for dynamic route guidance, public traffic management systems, and for other types of georeferenced services such as location-based services and points of interest. A copy of the AGORA-C standard can be obtained from the ISO website at http://www.iso.org/iso/prods-services/ISOstore/store (select the “Standards development” tab at the top of the page, then select the “Standards under development” option on the left menu).

An initial group of owners of patents essential for the AGORA-C standard, including Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic), Tele Atlas NV, Siemens AG, and Robert Bosch GmbH, selected Via Licensing as its agent to create and manage this joint licensing program.

“Via Licensing and the primary contributors to the AGORA-C standard are working together to create a joint patent licensing program that will benefit the ITS industry by facilitating licensing of AGORA-C essential patents owned by multiple entities at a predictable cost through a single license,” said Helene Jay, Director of Business Development, EMEA, for Via Licensing.

It should be noted that patents will be assessed with regard to ISO 17572-3 Intelligent Transport System (ITS)—Location Referencing for Geographic Databases—Part 3: Dynamic Location References, exclusive of incorporated normative references. ISO 17572-3 was successfully approved as a Draft International Standard by ISO and will be issued as an International Standard pending final approval.

About Via Licensing Corporation

Via Licensing Corporation develops and administers patent licensing programs on behalf of innovative technology companies and for the convenience of licensees. Via Licensing Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) and benefits from the expertise, infrastructure, and strategic business relationships that Dolby has developed in more than 35 years of licensing into the consumer electronics and personal computing markets. Via Licensing is involved in the development and operation of licensing programs for both mandated and de facto or emerging standards. For more information about Via Licensing Corporation, please visit www.vialicensing.com.

Certain statements in this press release, including statements regarding the capabilities of the AGORA-C standard and the eventual availability of a joint patent license for technologies essential to the AGORA-C standard, are "forward-looking statements" that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations, and as a result of certain risks and uncertainties actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. The following important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: risks associated with licensing technologies through joint licensing programs; risks associated with licensing industry-standard technologies; market acceptance of ISO 17572-3–capable devices; rapid changes in intelligent transportation transmission technologies; risks associated with the development of markets for ISO 17572-3–capable products; and other risks detailed in Dolby’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including the risks identified under the section captioned "Risk Factors" in its most recent Periodic Report on Form 10-Q or 10-K. Dolby disclaims any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

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