News Release: World Wide Web Consortium Approves Patent Policy

Today, W3C announced approval of the W3C Patent Policy, based on
widespread Member endorsement, agreement in the W3C Patent Policy
Working Group, and support from interested members of the public.

"By adopting this Patent Policy, W3C's Members will continue to be able
to concentrate on the business of producing the best possible technical
standards for the Web with the best chance for widespread adoption. W3C
now sets the benchmark for the pragmatic way to successfully develop
royalty-free Web Standards in the current patent environment."

For more information, please contact Janet Daly, W3C Head of
Communications, at +1 617 253 5884, <janet@w3.org>


===============================================
World Wide Web Consortium Approves Patent Policy

W3C Members, Director Establish Policy for Encouraging Royalty-Free Web
Standards

Web resources

This Press release:
    English
	http://www.w3.org/2003/05/patentpolicy-pressrelease.html.en
    French
	http://www.w3.org/2003/05/patentpolicy-pressrelease.html.fr
    Japanese
	http://www.w3.org/2003/05/patentpolicy-pressrelease.html.ja

Statement from Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director:
	http://www.w3.org/2003/05/12-director-patent-decision-public

W3C Patent Policy:
	http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20030520.html

http://www.w3.org/ -- 21 May 2003 -- Today, the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) announced approval of the W3C Patent Policy, based on
widespread Member endorsement, agreement in the W3C Patent Policy
Working Group, and support from interested members of the public. The
W3C Patent Policy aims to solve a specific problem -- to reduce the
threat of blocking patents on key components of Web infrastructure.

"W3C Members who joined in building the Web in its first decade made the
business decision that they, and the entire world, would benefit most by
contributing to standards that could be implemented ubiquitously,
without royalty payments, explained Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. "By
adopting this Patent Policy, W3C's Members will continue to be able to
concentrate on the business of producing the best possible technical
standards for the Web with the best chance for widespread adoption. W3C
now sets the benchmark for the pragmatic way to successfully develop
royalty-free Web Standards in the current patent environment."
Berners-Lee's full remarks are available on the Web.

W3C's Membership Takes Lead in Supporting Royalty-Free Standards for the
Web's Second Decade

Based on overwhelming support of the W3C Membership, agreement in the
Patent Policy Working Group and support from interested members of the
public, W3C's Director approved the W3C Patent Policy. The Policy lends
support to the basic intellectual property business model that has
driven innovation on the Web from its inception. Companies, researchers
and independent developers make contributions of design insights,
valuable engineering resources, and hard work in order to develop
technical interoperability standards upon which a worldwide information
infrastructure can be built.

Beyond establishing a commitment to royalty-free standards, the policy
provides W3C with a stable, practical patent policy, a clear licensing
framework, consistent disclosure obligations, and a reasonable dispute
resolution process. This policy will help W3C concentrate on the
business of producing the best possible technical standards for the Web.

"The Patent Policy represents what may be the most thorough effort to
date in defining a basic patent policy for standard-setting," continued
Berners-Lee. "I thank the participants in the PPWG for their diligent
and thoughtful work in what was necessarily a politically contentious
environment. We should all thank and congratulate those who contribute
time, expertise, patience and a spirit of cooperation to this effort."

Participants in the Patent Policy Working Group include: AOL Time
Warner; Apple; AT&T; Avaya; Daisy Consortium; Hewlett-Packard Company;
IBM; ILOG; Intel; Lexmark; Microsoft Corporation; MITRE; Motorola;
Nokia; Nortel Networks; The Open Group; Oracle Corporation; Reuters,
Ltd.; Sun Microsystems; Xerox Corporation; as well as invited experts
from the Free Software Foundation, Software in the Public Interest, and
the Open Source Initiative.

Patent Policy Keeps W3C Work Open and Recognizes the Existence of Patent
Holdings

The primary goal of the W3C Patent Policy is to enable W3C
Recommendations to be implemented on a royalty-free basis. The policy
also requires patent disclosure by W3C Members when they are aware of
patents that may be essential to the implementation of W3C Recommendations.

In simple terms, the Patent Policy provides that:

       * 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 (RF) basis.
       * Under certain circumstances, Working Group participants may
exclude specifically identified patent claims from the Royalty-Free
commitment. These exclusions are required shortly after publication of
the first public Working Draft, reducing the likelihood that surprise
patents will jeopardize collective Working Group efforts.
       * Patent disclosures are required from W3C Members and requested of
anyone else who sees the technical drafts and has actual knowledge of
patents that may be essential.
       * Patent claims not available with terms consistent with the W3C
Patent Policy will be addressed by a exception handling process.

Process for Handling Technologies in conflict with W3C Patent License
Requirements

In some cases, W3C may become aware of technologies proposed for
inclusion in Web standards that are not available according to the
conditions defined in the Patent Policy. These situations may arise when
a patent holder wants to charge a fee, or because of inconsistencies
with of one of the nine other Patent Policy licensing requirements. In
this case, W3C will convene a "Patent Advisory Group" (PAG) to
investigate the issue. Each PAG consists of representatives from W3C
Members participating in the Working Group. The PAG may recommend a
legal analysis of the patent, instruct the Working Group to attempt to
design around the patent or remove the patented feature, or may suggest
stopping all work in the area.

If all avenues to reach a result consistent with W3C Licensing
requirements have been exhausted, the PAG may recommend to the W3C
Membership that the technology be included anyway. Such a recommendation
requires that the precise licensing terms are publicly disclosed and
will be subject to review by the public, the W3C Membership, and the
Director.

The W3C Patent Policy Working Group chose to include a narrow window for
considering non-royalty-free license terms in a desire to preserve a
degree of flexibility for unexpected situations. The policy retains its
fundamental commitment to royalty-free standards for the Web. "In
crafting the exception process, we have proposed a multistage process
with feedback and approvals," explained Daniel J. Weitzner, W3C
Technology and Society Domain Leader, and chair of the Patent Policy
Working Group. "As a result, nearly unanimous support is required for
such exceptions. This should only be used in rare cases and is only
available after all other alternatives have been tried."

Scope of W3C Patent License Requirements and Impact on Patent Holders

The premise of the policy is that it is in the interests of all who
participate in building and using the Web -- including patent holders
and all others alike -- to enable royalty-free implementation of Web
standards. To this end, the policy doesn't require giving up one's
entire patent portfolio; it concerns only those patent claims held by
W3C Working Group participants that are essential to implement the
specific W3C standard.

W3C Royalty-Free Licensing Requirements support Open Source/Free
Software developers

The W3C royalty-free license requirements are consistent with generally
recognized Open Source licensing terms. This royalty-free definition
provides reasonable assurance that the Recommendations themselves are
available to all users and implementors of the Recommendation.

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

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
European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM)
headquartered 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, more than
400 organizations are Members of the Consortium. For more information
see http://www.w3.org/

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Received on Wednesday, 21 May 2003 03:01:29 UTC