We have recently been approached with requests to test or certify products that use HDMI technology in applications that are not defined by and/or licensed under the HDMI Adopter Agreement, the Specification, or supporting documents.

Examples of proposed products include devices where HDMI connections exist internal to the end product, with no HDMI functionality external to the device.

As you know, the HDMI Specification and supporting documents were written to allow manufacturers to create products that interoperate in a predictable, well defined way. Any use of the intellectual property, technology, standards and methods defined by the HDMI Specification are restricted to the creation and sale of licensed products, as defined in the HDMI Adopter Agreement.

According to the Adopter Agreement, “licensed product” means a cable, component, connector, repeater, source or sink. Any potential product that does not meet the requirements for at least one of these product types, as defined in the Adopter Agreement, cannot be classified as a “licensed” product.

In addition, Section 2 of the HDMI Adopter Agreement contains the patent license to necessary claims for the creation and sale of licensed products. A non-licensed or noncompliant product does not receive a license to these necessary claims. In addition, Section 2 also states that “such license shall not extend to any part or function of a product in which a licensed product is incorporated that is not itself a licensed product.” In this case, using the HDMI specification to design an internal connection between subsystems is not allowed for Licensed Products.

We respectfully ask that you carefully consider and adhere to the requirements of the HDMI Specification and your Adopter Agreement when determining the applications of HDMI technology in your products.

For more information about the HDMI specification please visit http://www.hdmi.org.