- From: Susan Lesch <lesch@w3.org>
- Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 14:32:45 -0800
- To: public-web-plugins@w3.org
Hello, Seventeen people attended the 17 October 2003 HTML Patent Advisory Group (PAG) [1] teleconference. W3C circulated a draft letter from W3C Director Tim Berners-Lee to PTO Director James Rogan and a 301 prior art filing for approval. The Chair summarized the letter and strategy. The tradeoff for filing a letter from the Director quickly is endorsement by a wider spectrum of the Membership. It was felt that time is of the essence and that a filing within the next week was most advisable. Participants noted that an early filing by W3C could likely set the right tone for the decision at the PTO. The Director is empowered to speak for W3C, and the HTML PAG is empowered to advise him. There was a brief discussion of precedents and antitrust, neither of which seemed to pose problems. A correction was noted about W3C's patent policy being enacted but not yet in effect. The group discussed whether this filing will be more successful than when, in the court decision, prior art came before the court but not the jury. The Chair and a participant discussed the way the letter addresses disruption to the Web, and agreed that the focus needs to be on the invalidity of the patent and that disruption to the Web should be presented as secondary. After the discussion, the Chair asked the PAG to endorse the proposal and received no objections. Changes will be accepted until 21 October, with the filing to follow immediately. [1] http://www.w3.org/2003/09/pag.html Best wishes, -- Susan Lesch http://www.w3.org/People/Lesch/ mailto:lesch@w3.org tel:+1.858.483.4819 World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) http://www.w3.org/
Received on Friday, 31 October 2003 17:35:21 UTC