Eduardo
Earlier you asked some questions regarding the handling of
Trademark waivers at OASIS [1]. The OASIS Board IPR Committee
discussed your concerns and has shared its findings with the
Board of Directors. This message is to share with you and
others the outcome of this discussion.
(1) "Regarding this particular case, I am not in complete
agreement with the statement that a waiver to a provision in
the IPR policy does not constitute in fact a change to the IPR
policy. In a very subtle way it does, inasmuch as it
establishes a precedent that can be used subsequently to
justify other waivers without much discussion."
The Board IPR Committee noted that the OASIS IPR policy
specifically anticipates the Board providing a waiver as an
exception. It states "except as approved by the OASIS Board of
Directors" in the Trademark section 5.3, Item #1 [2]:
"Trademarks or service marks that are not owned by OASIS
shall not be used by OASIS, except as approved by the OASIS
Board of Directors, to refer to work conducted at OASIS,
including the use in the name of an OASIS TC, an OASIS
Deliverable, or incorporated into such work."
The Board made it clear in its earlier statement [3] that
the CTI decision is based on specifics, e.g. "The OASIS Board
considers this waiver exceptional, in light of the perceived
urgency of cybersecurity risks mitigated by the project and
the inability of the contributor to immediately transfer the
trademarks."
The careful handling of this current exception demonstrates
that exceptions can and will be handled thoughtfully, as
intended by the authors of the IPR Policy. This is not to be
a general precedent but a specific exception and such future
issues would have to be decided on their merit. It is
consistent with the IPR Policy.
(2) "While I understand the desire for a quick(er)
resolution to this issue so that the Candidate Specification
can move forward, perhaps the Board should undertake a review
of the IPR policy to address the issue of government owned
copyright and trademarks as opposed to commercially owned
copyright and trademarks, as well as perhaps providing some
parameters for the issuance of waivers."
The Board IPR Committee considered this and decided to take
no action, given that waivers should be an exception and
treated as such.
Thanks for bringing these questions to our attention.
regards, Frederick
Frederick Hirsch
Chair of the OASIS Board of Directors
This
e-mail and any attached files are only for the use of its
intended recipient(s). Its contents are confidential and may be
privileged. Fujitsu does not guarantee that this e-mail has not
been intercepted and amended or that it is virus free. If you
have received this e-mail and are not the intended recipient,
please contact the sender by e-mail and destroy all copies of
this e-mail and any attachments. / Le présent courriel, ainsi
que ses pièces jointes, ne peut être utilisé que par le ou les
destinataires auxquels il a été transmis. Les renseignements
qu'il contient sont confidentiels, voire même protégés. Fujitsu
ne peut garantir que ce courriel n'a pas été intercepté ou
modifié, ou qu'il ne contient aucun virus. Si vous avez reçu ce
courriel sans en être le destinataire prévu, veuillez
communiquer par courriel avec son expéditeur et en détruire
toutes les copies et pièces jointes.