Implication of the publication of the first public Working Draft with regards to the Patent Policy

As per my action item, I have investigated the consequences of the
publication of the first public WD with regards to the Patent Policy.

The Patent Policy says that the exclusion opportunities are[1]:
1. 150 days after the publication of the first public Working Draft;
   at this stage, essential claims are defined by the so-called
   reference draft, which is the latest WD published before 90 days
   after the first public WD;
2. 60 days after the publication of the Last Call Working Draft for
   essential claims that were added since the reference draft.

So, considering our schedule which calls for LC in January, there is a
good chance that our reference draft will be our Last Call Working
Draft, which means (2) will basically be folded into (1) for us.

Therefore, my conclusion is: the earlier we publish our first public
Working Draft, the sooner our exclusion period will end.

For details, see:

    W3C Patent Policy
    4. Exclusion From W3C RF Licensing Requirements
    http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#sec-Exclusion

    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the W3C Patent Policy
    4. When can a Working Group participant exclude a patent?
    http://www.w3.org/2003/12/22-pp-faq.html#exclusion-date

Cheers,

Hugo

  1. http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#sec-Exclusion
-- 
Hugo Haas - W3C
mailto:hugo@w3.org - http://www.w3.org/People/Hugo/