Royal Philips Electronics today introduced a new way of licensing its CD-R disc patents. Called Veeza, Philips hopes to combat unfair competition from trade in unlicensed CD-R discs. Veeza makes it simple for everyone involved in the trade of CD-R discs to recognize unlicensed goods. With traditional patent licensing methods traders and retail companies tend to have difficulty in verifying that the goods they have purchased, are licensed and royalties have been paid. Veeza will make it easier to sell licensed CD-R discs and more difficult to sell unlicensed discs. Discs distributed under a Veeza-license can easily be traced and recognized by three clear marks: a logo that is embedded in the disc, a serial number on each package carton and an authenticity document, called Licensed Status Confirmation Document (LSCD). These three marks provide simple proof that a shipment with CD-R discs is licensed under Philips' patents.

Manufacturers participating in Veeza help promote the transparent and fair trade in CD-R discs by using the Veeza logo and Veeza LSCD with their products. Veeza-compliant companies will therefore benefit from a 44% reduction in the royalty, which goes down from 0.045 to 0.025 USD per CD-R disc.

More information about Veeza can be found at www.licensing.philips.com/Veeza