IPR mode (and membership agreement)

["Cruikshank, David W" <david.w.cruikshank@boeing.com>]

At the last telecon, I took an action to prepare a proposal for the IPR mode that the WebCGM Open TC should operate under.

See http://www.oasis-open.org/who/intellectualproperty.php.

The options for IPR mode are RAND, RF on RAND terms, and RF on Limited Terms.  I've spent some time parsing the sentences and paragraphs and think I understand a little of what is being said.

I think the key here is the term "Essential Claim".  That term relates to a patent or patent application that would be involved in implementing a normative portion of an OASIS standard or specification.  If such a claim exists is must be declared by the owner and, depending on the mode, licensing must be granted under the terms of the IPR mode to anyone.

I don't think we have an Esssential Claim involved in WebCGM 2.0, but consider an example.  Had ITEDO patented the BHO and it was the only way to satisfy the requirement in WebCGM to navigate to an APS within a CGM file, ITEDO would have to expose the existence of the claim and offer licensing of it. (Don't get any ideas, Dieter)

Modes:

RAND (Reasonable And Non-Discrimatory) - this just means that licensing granted can involve fees, but they must be reasonable and the same for anyone who wants them

RF on RAND (Royalty Free on RAND) - this means that the licensing is granted without payment of royalties or fees, but portions of the licensed product that are not required to satisfy the normative portions of the specification can be licensed using RAND

RF on Limited Terms - this means that the licensing is granted without payment of royalties or fees, but may include charges relating to the maintenance or operation of the license.

The W3C Licensing requrements can be found at: http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#sec-Requirements.  As I read this, partularly Section 5, it became clear that it was closest to the RF on Limited Term mode allowed by OASIS.

Since we may be processing WebCGM 2.0 through the W3C process as well, I would suggest that we ought to adopt RF on Limited Terms as the IPR mode for the WebCGM TC.

Membership agreement:

See http://www.oasis-open.org/who/intellectualproperty.php.

Before we can hold a vote on the IPR mode, at least 50% of the TC membership must have signed the new OASIS membership agreement.  I think we need to have our IPR mode settled before we can submit WebCGM to W3C for processing.

A member does not have to wait until the annual renewal date to sign the membership agreement, although there is a section for payment method.  I got clarification of this from Scott Mcgrath.  You just submit the form without payment details.  I'l work on getting the agreement signed by Boeing, since our renewal isn't due until March 2006.  It's important that everyone begin working on getting the agreement signed.

thx...Dave Cruikshank

Technical Fellow - Graphics/Digital Data Interchange
Boeing Commercial Airplane
206.544.8876, fax 206.544.9590
david.w.cruikshank@boeing.com