ATIS Intellectual Property Rights Policy Review

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ATIS Intellectual Property Rights Policy Review

• Thomas Goode
• General Counsel, ATIS

Submission DateJuly 8, 2008
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ATIS IPR Policy Review Task Force

• The ATIS IPR Policy Review Task Force was
  established in November 2006 at the direction of
  the ATIS Board of Directors to determine whether
  changes to ATIS IPR policy could make the
  standards development process more effective.
• It is comprised of IPR policy subject matter
  experts from ATIS Board representatives,
  including representatives from
• ADTRAN, Inc.
• ATT
• Alcatel-Lucent
• Cisco
• Corning
• Ericsson
• Global Crossing
• Hewlett Packard
• Intel Corporation

• Motorola
• Nortel
• QUALCOMM
• Qwest
• Research In Motion
• Tekelec
• T-Mobile
• Verizon

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Background ATIS IPR Policy

• ATIS follows the ANSI Patent Policy.
• ATIS encourages the disclosure of relevant
  patented inventions at the earliest possible
  time in the development of an ATIS deliverable.
• If an ATIS deliverable requires the use of a
  patented invention, ATIS shall receive assurance
  
• in the form of a general disclaimer to the effect
  that the party does not hold or does not
  currently intend holding any invention, the use
  of which would be required for compliance with
  the proposed deliverable or
• that a license will be made available without
  compensation or that a license will be made
  available under reasonable terms and conditions
  that are demonstrably free of any unfair
  discrimination.

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ATIS IPR Policy Review Task Force

• The Task Force has examined the existing ATIS IPR
  Policy and did not identify any specific
  IPR-related problems that must be corrected.
• Other initial conclusions of the Task Force
  included patent landscaping should not be
  undertaken by ATIS given the breadth of ATIS
  activities, the IPR policy should retain its
  flexibility to accommodate the needs of specific
  ATIS committees and forums and ATIS may wish to
  consider the potential for IPR-related issues
  when new ATIS committees and forums are created
  (e.g., to determine whether new disclosure
  mechanisms may be beneficial).
• The Board has asked the Task Force to continue
  its examination of possible policy changes that
  could be beneficial to ATIS standard development
  activities.
• In June 2008, the Board approved the use of an
  IPR Disclosure and Assurance Form developed by
  the Task Force based on ATIS existing IPR
  policy.
• Use of this form is voluntary IPR-related
  disclosures and assurances may be made through
  other methods.
• The form may help facilitate timely disclosures
  and assurances, and may promote compliance with
  ATIS policy.

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ATIS IPR Policy Review Task Force

• The Task Force is continuing its evaluation of
  potential issues for further consideration by the
  Task Force. Work will continue to
• Further refine the existing ATIS IPR policy based
  on issues raised by the Task Force during the
  development of the voluntary disclosure and
  assurance form.
• Consider changes to the IPR policy to address
  issues such as
• irrevocability
• the imposition of assurance obligations on
  transferees
• the potential creation of alternative ATIS IPR
  policies and
• the establishment of a policy that a RAND
  commitment or a commitment to license on specific
  terms disclosed ex ante should be a commitment to
  license worldwide to any implementer.
• The Task Force is prioritizing its examination of
  these issues it is not clear whether consensus
  will be reached on any of these changes.