Uldage, a joint venture formed in July 2006 by Matsushita, Sony, Sharp, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, JVC, and Hitachi, will be in charge of digital cable TV patent management for the seven Japanese firms, in a bid to facilitate patent adoption and bring down patent costs by as much as 20% for cable TV service providers and equipment makers, Nikkei Weekly reported.

The co-management of digital cable TV patents via Uldage is projected to be implemented by August 2008 at the soonest. Royalties will be shared among the license holders according to the percentage of patent ownership.