Funai produces the following brands: Philips, Magnavox, Sylvania and Emerson

Jan 20, 2010 14:47 GMT  ·  By

As LCD TVs continue to evolve, the line separating the devices from PCs grows thinner. At least, this is the indication of a new move by Microsoft and Japanese TV manufacturer Funai Electric. The two companies announced the inking of a patent cross-licensing agreement on January 19th, 2010, a deal designed to allow new consumer electronics products including LCD TVs from Funai to incorporate technology from the Redmond company.

A key aspect of the agreement penned by the duo involves Microsoft’s Extended File Allocation Table. Most known under the acronym exFAT, the technology is a file system tailored to mobile storage products, and designed to be superior to FAT. From Microsoft’s perspective, exFAT is perfect for accommodating today’s rich and integrated media experiences, which it will do on Funai’s LCD TVs.

“Consumers want TVs to offer experiences that were once available primarily on personal computers. A patent license like this one allows two industry leaders to deliver the type of cutting-edge innovations that today’s consumers demand,” revealed David Kaefer, general manager of Intellectual Property (IP) Licensing at Microsoft.

Kenji Sakata, officer of IP licensing at Funai added “We are very pleased that this agreement enables us to incorporate Microsoft technology into our products, which will foster an even richer user experience for our customers.”

While Funai might not be a brand all that familiar to consumers, not the same can be said about the products it offers, including Philips, Magnavox, Sylvania and Emerson. The intellectual property agreement with Microsoft will allow Funai to use the company’s innovations in audio-video products, such as LCD TVs. Neither party wished to share the financial details of the deal with the public, but the software giant indicated that it was being compensated by Funai.

“Our patent portfolio reflects the innovation that results from the billions of dollars of R&D Microsoft invests each year, and we are pleased to share access with an established leader such as Funai,” Kaefer added.