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http://www.w3.org/2005/Talks/0615-patentpolicy-summary/
Daniel J. Weitzner
Chair, W3C Patents and Standards Interest Group
1993: CERN contributions Web infrastructure to the public domain
1994-1998: Community norms avoids patent licensing issues
1998-1999: Patent holdup of 5 W3C specifications: P3P, XLink, XPointer, VoiceXML, CSS
October 1999: Patent policy development begins
The Policy affirms and strengthens the basic business model that has driven innovation on the Web from its inception. The availability of an interoperable, unencumbered Web infrastructure provides an expanding foundation for innovative applications, profitable commerce, and the free flow of information and ideas on a commercial and non-commercial basis.
--Director's Decision, 20 May 2003
Goal: Produce Recommendations implementable on Royalty-Free basis and allow technical work to with minimal interruption
Method:
Requirements for a license, (not license text itself):
"Disclosure is required when both of the following are true:
- an individual in a Member organization receives a disclosure request as described in section 6.3; and
- that individual has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) with respect to the specification for which disclosure is requested."
Disclosure statements will be made through the AC Rep.
Purpose: address variances from RF licensing goal
Trigger: disclosure of essential claim not available according to W3C RF licensing requirement.
Conclusions:
Steps between here and actual implementation:
Expected actual use beginning October/November 2003
Jean-François Abramatic (W3C), Chuck Adams (IBM), Angela Anderson (Nortel), Anders Arvidsson (Nokia), Martin Ashton (Reuters, Ltd.), Carl Cargill (Sun Microsystems), Wanda Cox (Apple Computer), W. Mike Deese (Microsoft), Mark DeLuca (Cozen O'Connor for Microsoft), Don Deutsch (Oracle), Tom Frost (AT&T), Michael Gelblum (Oracle), Mari Georges (ILOG S.A.), Lisa Goldman (Sun Microsystems), Eduardo Gutentag (Sun Microsystems), Toon Groenendaal (Philips Electronics), Michele Herman (Microsoft), Richard J. Holleman (IBM), Ian Jacobs (W3C), Glen Johnson (Nortel Networks), Jerry Kellenbenz (Apple Computer), George Kerscher (Daisy Consortium), Alan Kotok (W3C), Gerry Lane (IBM), Arnaud Le Hors (IBM), Susan Lesch (W3C, Team Contact), Roger Martin (AOL), Bede McCall (MITRE), Catherine McCarthy (Sun Microsystems), Lloyd McIntyre (Xerox), Earl Nied (Intel), Steve Nunn (The Open Group), Scott K. Peterson (Hewlett-Packard), Tony E. Piotrowski (Philips Electronics), Gene Potkay (Avaya), Chuck Powers (Motorola), Barry Rein (Pennie & Edmonds for W3C), Gib Ritenour (Nortel Networks), Michael Schallop (then Sun Microsystems), Kevin Smith (Nortel Networks), George Tacticos (IBM), David Turner (Microsoft), Daniel Weitzner (W3C, Working Group Chair), George Willingmyre (GTW Associates), Helene Plotka Workman (Apple Computer), Don Wright (Lexmark), Joe Young (Xerox), and Tom Zell (Xerox). Invited experts Eben Moglen (Free Software Foundation), Bruce Perens (Software in the Public Interest), and Larry Rosen (Rosenlaw.com for Open Source Initiative) participated and contributed fully.
(as of July 2007)
Issue | W3C | OASIS | Impact |
1) License mode choices | 1 | 3 | flexibility/timeliness tradeoff |
2) Scope of license commitment | Recommendation | TC charter | certainty for implementers vs. members |
3) Scope of defensive suspension | all W3C RECs | spec-by-spec | architectural integrity |
W3C Patent Policy: http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy/ (5 February 2004)
Patent Policy Summary: http://www.w3.org/2004/02/05-patentsummary.html
Business Benefits of the Patent Policy: http://www.w3.org/2004/03/pp-points-20040210.html
Patent Policy FAQ: http://www.w3.org/2003/12/22-pp-faq
Patents and Standards Interest Group: http://www.w3.org/2004/pp/psig/