W3C Patent Policy Transition Procedure

This document describes how W3C will implement the W3C Patent Policy in new and existing Groups. The Director approved the W3C Patent Policy, developed by the Patent Policy Working Group, on 20 May 2003 (cf. announcement to the Advisory Committee [Member-only link]). The 5 February 2004 Patent Policy, which includes only very minor administrative changes from the 20 May 2003 version, is effective starting on 15 February 2004. The W3C Patent Policy is being implemented in a phased process that uses the W3C Patent Policy for newly-chartered Working Groups, allows the possibility for existing Working Groups with no new deliverables to remain under the 24 January 2002 Current Patent Practice Note (in this document, "CPP") as amended by this transition procedure, allows the possibility of earlier transition to the W3C Patent Policy, and other options as described below.

Status of this Document

This document incorporates review by the Advisory Board and Advisory Committee as a result of the December 2003 Call for Advisory Committee Review (Member-only link) of the draft Procedure document (Member-only link).

The non-editorial changes since the draft reviewed by the Advisory Committee are:

• Change: A group may not remain under the CPP if its charter is modified to include new deliverables.
• Clarification: The previous draft included amendments to the CPP without labeling them as such. This draft clarifies exactly what those amendments are.

On 26 May 2004, the definition of "Participating Member" was fixed. The original definition was incorrect as it identified Participating Members as those who had joined "according to the requirements of section 6.2.1 of the 5 February 2004 Process Document"; that version of the Process Document was published along with the transition procedure, and thus no participants had yet joined according to those terms. The corrected definition identifies a Participating Member in terms of good standing, which was the primary criterion in the operative Process Document prior to 5 February 2004.

Please address questions about this document to www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org (public archive).

Contents

1. Impact of Transition Procedure on Working Groups
2. Considerations When an Existing Group Switches to the W3C Patent Policy
3. General Adoption of W3C Patent Policy Provisions
4. Definitions

W3C makes available the following additional resources for understanding the W3C Patent Policy:

1. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the W3C Patent Policy
2. Summary of the W3C Patent Policy

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1. Impact of Transition Procedure on the Groups

All existing Working Groups are encouraged to start early to consider the options presented below, to work toward developing an understanding among Participating Members concerning the policy option most suitable for the situation and future plans of the Working Group. To give existing Working Groups more time to prepare:

• If an existing Working Group charter has expired or will expire before 1 June 2004, that charter is hereby extended until 1 June 2004. No substantive changes can be made to these charters as a part of this extension.

1.1 New Working Groups

• All new Working Groups proposed to commence on or after 15 February 2004 will be chartered under the W3C Patent Policy.

1.2 Existing Groups Currently Covered by the CPP

1.2.1 Proposal to revise charter, not including new deliverables

For revisions to charters scheduled to take effect on or after 15 February 2004:

• An existing CPP Working Group may propose revisions (such as administrative changes, extended duration, dropped deliverables, etc.) to its charter and remain under the CPP as amended by this transition procedure, provided the revisions do not include any new deliverables.
• An existing CPP Working Group may move to the W3C Patent Policy only if there is a consensus to move to the W3C Patent Policy among the AC Representatives of Participating Members. Consideration of such a move may be taken at any time, whether or not other changes are being proposed. In preparation for this, a draft revised charter will be developed by the Team in consultation with the Working Group, and will be made available to the Working Group prior to seeking consensus on the move to the W3C Patent Policy.

1.2.2 Proposal to revise charter, including new deliverables

For revisions to charters scheduled to take effect on or after 15 February 2004:

• A revised charter of an existing CPP Working Group can include new deliverables only if there is a consensus to move to the W3C Patent Policy among the AC Representatives of Participating Members. In preparation for this, a draft revised charter will be developed by the Team in consultation with the Working Group, and will be made available to the Working Group prior to seeking consensus on the move to the W3C Patent Policy.

  If there is strong interest in working on new deliverables, but the existing CPP Working Group could not reach consensus to move to the W3C Patent Policy, one option would be to start a new Working Group to work on the new deliverables, following the transition procedures in Section 1.1.

1.2.3 Technical Architecture Group

• It is planned that the TAG will re-charter under the W3C Patent Policy before 1 April 2004.

1.3 Existing Groups not Currently Covered by the CPP

For revisions scheduled to take effect on or after 15 February 2004:

• All existing Working Groups that are not covered by the CPP and or W3C Patent Policy, and which propose any charter revisions of any kind (e.g., extended durations, new deliverables, dropper deliverables, non-substantive changes, etc.), must move to the W3C Patent Policy. This change to the W3C Patent Policy would be be included in its next proposed, revised charter and the charter would be sent for Advisory Committee review. This change does not require consensus to adopt the W3C Patent Policy among the AC Representatives of Participating Members.

1.4 Advisory Committee Review of Revised Charters

Advisory Committee review of a revised charter is required unless the changes are limited to any combination of the following:

• Extension in duration.
• Other non-substantive changes (e.g., clarifications, editorial repairs, minor error corrections, change of Team Contact, etc.).
• Inclusion of the W3C Patent Policy in a modified charter of an existing CPP Working Group to go into effect on or after 15 February 2004.

2. Considerations when a New Charter for an Existing Working Group is Revised to Include the W3C Patent Policy

When a new charter for an existing Working Group is revised to include the W3C Patent Policy:

• There will be a new Call for Participation. Any former Participating Member wishing to re-join the Working Group, and new Participating Members, must explicitly answer the Call and agree to participate under the W3C Patent Policy. Departing Members that do not wish to re-join may withdraw their licensing commitments made under the Working Group's old patent policy. However, if the departing Member previously disclosed specific essential claims, and they withdraw their Royalty-Free commitment to those, the Working Group will need to further investigate and perhaps request a Patent Advisory Group (PAG).
• Calls for Exclusion (see section 4 of the W3C Patent Policy) for newly re-chartered Working Groups will be issued as appropriate:
  • If the start of a new charter is within 90 days past the publication of the first public Working Draft, then the Patent Policy provisions apply.
  • If start of a new charter occurs 91 day or more after the publication of the first public Working Draft, then participants have 90 days to exclude (30 days "added" relative to the requirements of the W3C Patent Policy, recognizing likely start-up challenges during the transition).
• The licensing obligations (sections 3, 4 and 5) of the W3C Patent Policy will apply to any existing Recommendation track document that has not reached Candidate Recommendation as of the date the new charter comes into effect (i.e., the date of the Director's announcement that the charter has been approved). Otherwise, the licensing requirements of the previous patent policy (most recently, the CPP) apply.
• Proposed Edited Recommendations derived from a Recommendation not developed under the W3C Patent Policy, will be governed by the CPP.

3. Consortium-Wide Adoption of W3C Patent Policy Provisions

As of 15 February 2004:

• All Working Group charters will use the licensing definitions from the W3C Patent Policy.
• The disclosure provisions of the the W3C Patent Policy (section 6) supersede all earlier disclosure provisions.
• All PAGs convened will follow the PAG procedures of the W3C Patent Policy (section 7).

This means that the CPP is amended by this transition procedure as follows:

1. The disclosure rules of section 3 are superseded by those of section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.
2. The PAG procedures described in section 4 are superseded by those described in section 7 of the W3C Patent Policy
3. The definition of "Essential Claim" of appendix 6 is superseded by the definitions in section 8 of the W3C Patent Policy (which are considerably clearer).
4. The definition of "Royalty-Free License" of appendix 6 is superseded by the requirements in section 5 of the W3C Patent Policy.

4. Definitions

Participating Member

A W3C Member that has at least one representative in good standing (as defined in section 6.2.1.7 of the 18 June 2003 Process Document) at the time the Call for Votes to change to the W3C Patent Policy is issued for that group.

Consensus

As defined in section 3.3 of the W3C Process document, consensus means that no AC Representatives of Participating Members object to the change. The proposed action is not blocked from moving forward by AC Representatives who either do not vote or explicitly abstain.