Chair Announce: IPR Disclosures

I'm not sure to what extend IPR will be an issue for this WG -- hopefully
not -- but this topic is a necessary one in the administration of a WG.
Please send any disclosures to this list and cc:patent-issues@w3.org .

I will be forwarding the two IPR statements that were disclosed during the
W3C consideration of this proposed activity. I'd also like to remind people
that according to W3C [1] and IETF [2] process you are obligated to make a
disclosure regarding relevant IPR that is material to this activity. The W3C
-- at least -- prefers specifications to be unencumbered by patents. We want
open and accessible specifications such that anyone can sit down with our
spec, implement and deploy it without legal hassle. However, we realize this
is a thorny issue. Regardless, I think everyone in this WG can agree that
what we want to avoid the work being steered in a way that favors
non-disclosed proprietary interests. Early and specific disclosure is the
best way for us to achieve a specification that will be readily implemented
and deployed.

[1] http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/#ipr

  1.5 W3C's Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy
  
   W3C promotes an open working environment. Whenever possible, technical
   decisions should be made unencumbered by intellectual property right
   (IPR) claims. To this end, W3C discloses to the entire Membership all
   IPR claims made by Members. Members may disclose IPR claims at any
   time. Members disclose patent and other IPR claims by sending email to
   an archived mailing list that is readable by Members and the Team:
   patent-issues@w3.org. Members must disclose all IPR claims to this
   mailing list but they may also copy other recipients. For instance,
   they should copy the Activity Lead responsible for a particular
   technology to ensure that the IPR claims receive prompt consideration.
   
   Advisory Committee representatives are responsible for facilitating
   communication with IPR contacts in their organization. When disclosing
   IPR claims, individuals should therefore copy their Advisory Committee
   representative.
   
   Member disclosures of IPR claims about a particular subject should
   include the following language:
   
     To the best of my knowledge, I believe my organization has/doesn't
     have IPR claims regarding [subject].
     
   Members are encouraged to disclose their claims in detail whenever
   possible.
   
   Announcements, important documents, and frequently visited Web pages
   should remind Members to disclose IPR claims. Important places of
   interaction include: Activity proposals and briefing packages, calls
   for participation in groups and their charters, the Member home page,
   Activity home pages, and Group home pages.

[2] http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2026.txt (section 10)

...
   (B)  The IETF encourages all interested parties to bring to its
      attention, at the earliest possible time, the existence of any
      intellectual property rights pertaining to Internet Standards.
      For this purpose, each standards document shall include the
      following invitation:

         "The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its
         attention any copyrights, patents or patent applications, or
         other proprietary rights which may cover technology that may be
         required to practice this standard.  Please address the
         information to the IETF Executive Director."


_________________________________________________________
Joseph Reagle Jr.   
Policy Analyst           mailto:reagle@w3.org
XML-Signature Co-Chair   http://w3.org/People/Reagle/

Received on Thursday, 1 July 1999 13:46:18 UTC