News Release: World Wide Web Consortium Releases Last Call Working Draft of Patent Policy

The W3C Patent Policy Working Group has published a Last Call Working
Draft which commits to Royalty-Free Specification development, and is 
soliciting Public and Member Comment.

Contact Janet Daly for more information: +1 617 253 5884

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World Wide Web Consortium Releases Last Call Working Draft of Patent Policy

Contact Americas, Australia --
	Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613
Contact Europe --
	Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94
Contact Asia --
      	Saeko Takeuchi <saeko@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170

http://www.w3.org/ - The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) today published
a revised, Last Call Working Draft of its Royalty-Free Patent Policy
whose goal is to enable W3C Recommendations to be implemented on a
royalty-free basis. To achieve the goal of producing royalty-free (RF)
specifications, all who participate in the development of a W3C
Recommendation must agree to license essential claims (that is, patents
that block interoperability) on a royalty-free basis.

Last Call Working Drafts are published when a W3C Working Group feels it
has solved internal issues and is seeking outside review. The Last Call
comment period is open for public and Member comments through 31
December 2002.
Proposed Policy Keeps W3C Work Open, Protects Rights of Patent Holders

The primary goal of the W3C Patent Policy Working Draft is to enable W3C
Recommendations to be implemented on a royalty-free basis, and to
encourage disclosure by both W3C Members and others when they are aware
of patents - their own or others - that may be essential to the
implementation of W3C Recommendations. In simple terms:

      * All who participate in the development of a W3C Recommendation
must agree to license essential claims (patents that block
interoperability) on a royalty-free (RF) basis
      * Patent disclosures are required for W3C Working Group
participants and anyone else who sees the technical drafts and is aware
of patents that may be essential.
      * The Working Group has developed a process for resolving disputes
in the event patent claims are identified that are not available
royalty-free. Options including designing around the patents,
investigating the validity of the patents, or transitioning the work to
another organization that is willing to produce RAND (reasonable and
non-discriminatory terms) standards.

The Policy doesn't require giving up one's entire patent portfolio; it
concerns only those patent claims that are essential to implement a
standard that one participates in developing at W3C. W3C is clear in
aiming to solve a specific problem - to remove the threat of blocking
patents on key components of Web infrastructure.
Last Call Draft Makes Commitment to Royalty-Free W3C Results

In previous drafts, the Patent Policy Working Group wrestled with issues
regarding both royalty-free and other technologies being incorporated
into W3C Recommendations. With this draft, the Working Group explicitly
proposes the following:

      * RF Recommendations only are allowed
      * All participants must make up-front commitments to RF licenses
for Recommendations they participate in developing
      * The W3C Patent Policy draft allows participants to retain
defensive use of their patents; the RF licensing only applies to
technologies essential for implementing the W3C Specification.
      * The current draft is considerably less complicated than previous
versions. The Working Group removed special rules for contributors.

Further, with the elimination of the RAND track, there's no possibility
of switching a design effort in the middle from a RF to a RAND group.
After Vigorous Negotiation, Working Group Seeks Public and W3C Member
Comment, Review

This Last Call Working Draft has been released with Working Group
consensus (as defined in the W3C Process Document) on all issues. Unlike
the August 2001 Working Draft, where two Working Group members filed
formal objections, no formal objections were registered on this revision.

It should be clear that the process of developing this policy was
complex, and involved a number of decisions taken by majority vote,
occasionally with close results. While no participant came away
completely happy, all agreed to move forward with the draft.

The Patent Policy Working Group spent the last year responding to
comments and criticism from the previous Last Call (mixed RAND and RF)
draft, and have been active for a total of three years. Participants in
the Patent Policy Working Group include 20 W3C Member organizations, 3
invited experts from the open source/free software community, and W3C staff.

During this Last Call period, the Working Group will be looking for
comments from both the W3C Membership and members of the interested
public, including independent developers and various user communities
around the world.
Next Steps Include Broad Review, Decisions in 2003

Following the Last Call period, the Patent Policy Working Group will
produce a final draft proposal for the consideration of the W3C
Membership and public. This final proposal - called a Proposed
Recommendation at W3C - will be through the standard review process
undertaken for all W3C technical Recommendations, concluding in decision
by the W3C Director, Tim Berners-Lee about the final policy. The Working
Group hopes to advance to Proposed Recommendation in February or March
2003, with a final policy to be adopted by May 2003.

In the meantime, W3C technical work will be governed by the Current
Patent Practice Note, a document that sets a goal of producing
royalty-free technical specifications, but does not require RF
commitments from participants at the start of new Working Groups.

About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]

The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential by developing
common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its
interoperability. It is an international industry consortium jointly run
by the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT LCS) in the USA, the
National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA)
in France and Keio University in Japan. Services provided by the
Consortium include: a repository of information about the World Wide Web
for developers and users, and various prototype and sample applications
to demonstrate use of new technology. To date, over 450 organizations
are Members of the Consortium. For more information see http://www.w3.org/

Received on Thursday, 14 November 2002 15:39:49 UTC