Re: [oasis-charter-discuss] Questions about the SCA J TC Proposed Charter

[Jeff Mischkinsky <jeff.mischkinsky@oracle.com>]

Hi Robin,
    Thanks for catching this. I think the answer is actually quite  
simple and avoids the various pitfalls which you so ably describe.

    We had meant to remove the Java(tm) reference in the title. I  
guess you can never have too many eyes reviewing proposed text.

   I believe that the issue will be resolved simply by appropriate  
renaming. To be consistent we will change the name of all the  
language specific TC's to be something like: Service Component  
Architecture/<lang> (SCA/<lang>) Technical Committee
     e.g. SCA/J, SCA/BPEL, SCA/C-C++

  Descriptive material, specifications, etc. can refer to trademarks  
(kind of like fair use), as long as it is appropriately attributed. A  
search through lots of OASIS documents will turn up lots of  
references to trademarks, although many don't have the "foo is a  
trademark of bar" (an oversight i presume). Hence I don't think we  
need to do anything more than fix the long and short names.

   It might be worth raising an issue (with TC Process committee I  
guess) to look into whether clarifying material needs to be added to  
the Process document, staff procedures, etc. to require that  
trademarks have appropriate attribution.

   Please let me know if you don't think this will resolve the issue.
      cheers,
      jeff


On Jul 10, 2007, at 6:27 AM, Robin Cover wrote:

> A question has arisen about the Proposed Charter for the SCA J TC [1];
> it's been requested that I seek clarification on this list.
>
> The Name of the proposed TC as given in the "PROPOSED CHARTER FOR
> REVIEW AND COMMENT" (1. Normative information, a) is:
>
> OASIS Service Component Architecture for Java(tm) (SCA J) Technical  
> Committee
>
> The Charter text also states (following the References, and apparently
> at the end of Section "2. Non-normative information regarding the
> startup of the TC") that:
>
> Java and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks of Sun
> Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both.
>
> Now... The OASIS Technical Committee Process [2] specifies in "Section
> 2.2. TC Formation" that the name of a TC designated in a Charter
> may not "include any trademarks or service marks not owned by OASIS."
>
>    (1)(a) The name of the TC, such name not to have been previously
>    used for an OASIS TC and not to include any trademarks or service
>    marks not owned by OASIS. The proposed TC name is subject to TC
>    Administrator approval and may not include any misleading or
>    inappropriate names. The proposed name must specify any acronyms
>    or abbreviations of the name that shall be used to refer to the TC.
>
> Also... according to the IPR Policy (Section 5.3 Trademarks) [3]
>
>    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 Committee Specification or OASIS
>    Standard, or incorporated into such work.
>
> Questions:
>
> 1. Does OASIS have ownership of the Java trademark?
>
> 2. If so, by what means has ownership of the Java trademark
>    been conveyed to OASIS or otherwise established?
>
> 3. If not, has the OASIS Board of Directors granted an
>    exception according to the rules of IPR Policy Section 5.3?
>
> 4. Independent of the answers to questions in #1-#3 above (and
>    assuming that the legal requirements for owhership were to
>    be met according to the rules of TC Process Section 2.2),
>    is deemed necessary that the *official name* of the TC
>    be spelled using the symbol "(tm)" [ Java(tm) ] -- or
>    (e.g.,) would it be sufficient to arrange for use of
>    the symbol "(tm)" just in the Charter Section 1.b
>    "Statement of Purpose"?
>
> Thanks for clarifications.
>
> Robin Cover
>
> =========  References:
>
> [1] http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/tc-announce/200707/ 
> msg00003.html
>     Proposed Charter for OASIS Service Component Architecture for
>     Java(tm) (SCA J) Technical Committee - 4 of 6
>
> [2] http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/process.php#2.2
>
> [3] 5.3 Trademarks
>     With respect to CONTRIBUTIONS
>     http://www.oasis-open.org/who/ 
> intellectualproperty.php#contributions
>

--
Jeff Mischkinsky			          		jeff.mischkinsky@oracle.com
Director, Oracle Fusion Middleware and Web Services Standards	+1(650) 
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