OpenCable Applications Platform
Submitting a Patent: CableLabs® OpenCable™ Applications Platform (OCAP™)

The CableLabs published, OpenCable Applications Platform (OCAP) specification, defines a generic interface between interactive digital applications and the terminals on which these applications execute. They enable digital content providers to address all types of terminals ranging from low- to high-end set-top boxes, integrated digital TV sets, and multimedia PCs. A list of published standards and specifications associated with the licensing arrangements is provided in the OCAP Standards Table.

Via Licensing was selected by a group of patent holders to develop licensing programs for the OCAP specification.

In June of 2004, Via issued a call for patents for the purpose of identifying the owners of patents that are deemed essential to the practice of the standards and specifications listed in the OCAP Standards Table. Essential patents are understood to be issued patents or patent applications that have one or more independent claims that would necessarily and unavoidably be infringed (in the absence of a license) by the implementation or use of the standards.

Any entity that believes it has patents or pending patent applications that are essential to the normative portions of the standards and specifications which are listed in the OCAP Standards Table is invited to contact Via Licensing Corporation in order to receive information about how to submit patents for an essentiality evaluation. Any company with a patent or patent application that has been determined to be essential is expected to participate in a group of essential patent holders to discuss the commercialization terms for licensing patents under fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory terms.

For submission information, please email submissions@vialicensing.com, specifying your interest in submitting a patent or patent application for consideration of essentiality to the OCAP Licensing Program.

CableLabs, OpenCable, and OCAP are trademarks of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.