UNCEAFACT Bureau report to 8th Forum

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UN/CEFACT
Intellectual Property Rights Policy Mark Palmer
Vice Chair 26 September 2007
UNITED NATIONS CENTRE FOR TRADE FACILITATION AND
ELECTRONIC BUSINESS United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe
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Background

• Plenary established IPR Special Contact Group
• reviewed other SDOs IPR policies
• established fundamental principles
• editing team circulated drafts for comment
• 11th Plenary approved IPR principles (2005)
• Policy approved by UN Office of Legal Affairs and
  Plenary (2006)

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Overview of IPR Policy

• Goal Promote UN/CEFACT standards without burden
  of fees or restrictions
• Five key principles
• Waiver
• Disclosure
• Exception Handling
• Warranty
• Disclaimer

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Waiver Obligation

• All participants in a Permanent Group waive their
  rights to enforce intellectual property (IP)
  necessary to use specifications from that
  Permanent Group.
• The waiver is limited applies only to
  implementations of the specification all other
  rights are reserved.
• Waiver required as a condition to participate in
  a Permanent Group.

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Disclosure Obligation

• Waiver may be avoided only if the participant
  discloses the relevant IP at designated steps in
  the development process.
• Disclosure is made by participants individual
  representative based on his/her knowledge. No
  duty to conduct extensive IPR search.
• Enforcement of IP is waived if not disclosed.

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Exception Handling

• Applies when a participant discloses IP
• Intellectual Property Advisory Group (IPAG) is
  formed to consider the IP at issue and to select
  one of the recommendations outlined in the IPR
  Policy.

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Warranties

• Every participant warrants that to the best of
  its representatives knowledge no third party
  contends that the participants contributions to
  a specification infringe that third partys IP.
• There are no other warranties.
• There are no indemnities.

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IPR Policy in Operations

• Applying the policy to operations
• included in Forum Procedures CEFACT/2005/4
• all Forum members to comply with the IPR Policy
• participants confirm acceptance of IPR policy
  with registration for each Forum meeting
• All Bureau members must declare any personal,
  professional or financial interest which may
  conflict with their responsibilities as Bureau
  members. Procedures for the Bureau
  R.650/Rev.4/Add.2
• No participant shall promote the interests of any
  specific organization or company over that of any
  other.
• Elected officers confirm understanding and
  compliance
• Bureau and Legal Group stay informed on
  standards-related IPR discussions.
• listen to questions, issues or recommendations
  for improvements

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UN/CEFACT
SIMPLE, TRANSPARENT AND EFFECTIVE PROCESSES FOR
GLOBAL BUSINESS.