[spectools] IPR statements and OASIS specs

["Eve L. Maler" <eve.maler@sun.com>]

I'm just trying to figure out how to alert readers of the SAML specs 
about the patents that have been disclosed on SAML.  What do you folks 
think of the following suggestions for boilerplate text?  If you like 
them, Norm and I could put this in the sample docs...

	Eve

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [security-services] RSA Security IPR statement
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 18:56:25 -0400
From: "Eve L. Maler" <eve.maler@sun.com>
To: "Philpott, Robert" <rphilpott@rsasecurity.com>

Philpott, Robert wrote:
...
 > Would it be cleaner to just stick it in
 > an appendix of each document?
 >
 > Just a thought... In case you haven't already done this, perhaps an 
appendix
 > for IPR statements should be in the OASIS template you built. I'd hate to
 > clutter up the documents with full IPR letters from any and all companies
 > with IP - fortunately SAML's just got this one.  The best solution in my
 > mind would be to have a brief, standard boilerplate statement approved by
 > OASIS in the appendix and reference back to the appropriate committee web
 > page at the OASIS site.  Is this what OASIS is thinking also or are they
 > sticking in the entire statement from the company?

I don't know if they had really gotten that far in their thinking.  I
think it's probably not a good idea to put the actual text of the
letter/statement in the spec, for more than just space reasons.  For
example, RSAS changed its text once already, and it's free to do so
again.  Also, new statements might be made by other companies later,
even after SAML becomes an OASIS Standard.  So it's probably best to
have standard boilerplate, as you say, with a link.

The next question is where to put the boilerplate.  There are two
obvious possibilities: an appendix and the Status on the title page.  If
the boilerplate is fairly modest in size, I think the Status section is
best, since IPR concerns can materially affect the status of a
specification.  Here is the kind of text I can see putting in:

    "One or more patents have been disclosed whose use may be essential
to implementing this specification. See the Intellectual Property Rights
section of the Security Services web page
(http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/security) for disclosure of these
patents and any offers of patent licensing terms."

Oh, and in the case of specs for which no patents have been disclosed
yet, there should perhaps still be something like this:

    "See the Intellectual Property Rights section of the xxx TC web page
(http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/xxxTC) for information on the
disclosure of any patents that may be essential to implementing this
specification and any offers of patent licensing terms."

This seems small enough for the Status section.  What do you think?

(By the way, I note that the first paragraph in the Notices appendix
talks about getting IPR information, but it's too general and too
boilerplate-ish to really convey much to the casual reader...)

	Eve

-- 
Eve Maler                                    +1 781 442 3190
Sun Microsystems XML Technology Center   eve.maler @ sun.com