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authorThomas Voss <mail@thomasvoss.com> 2024-11-27 20:54:24 +0100
committerThomas Voss <mail@thomasvoss.com> 2024-11-27 20:54:24 +0100
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+Network Working Group S. Bradner, Ed.
+Request for Comments: 3979 Harvard University
+BCP: 79 March 2005
+Obsoletes: 3668
+Updates: 2028, 2026
+Category: Best Current Practice
+
+
+ Intellectual Property Rights in IETF Technology
+
+Status of this Memo
+
+ This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
+ Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
+ improvements. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
+
+Copyright Notice
+
+ Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
+
+Abstract
+
+ The IETF policies about Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), such as
+ patent rights, relative to technologies developed in the IETF are
+ designed to ensure that IETF working groups and participants have as
+ much information about any IPR constraints on a technical proposal as
+ possible. The policies are also intended to benefit the Internet
+ community and the public at large, while respecting the legitimate
+ rights of IPR holders. This memo details the IETF policies
+ concerning IPR related to technology worked on within the IETF. It
+ also describes the objectives that the policies are designed to meet.
+ This memo updates RFC 2026 and, with RFC 3978, replaces Section 10 of
+ RFC 2026. This memo also updates paragraph 4 of Section 3.2 of RFC
+ 2028, for all purposes, including reference [2] in RFC 2418.
+
+Table of Contents
+
+ 1. Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
+ 2. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
+ 3. Contributions to the IETF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
+ 3.1. General Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
+ 3.2. Rights and Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
+ 4. Actions for Documents for which IPR Disclosure(s) Have Been
+ Received . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
+ 4.1. No Determination of Reasonable and Non-discriminatory
+ Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
+ 5. Notice to be Included in RFCs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
+ 6. IPR Disclosures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 1]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+ 6.1. Who Must Make an IPR Disclosure? . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
+ 6.2. The Timing of Providing Disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . 9
+ 6.3. How Must a Disclosure be Made? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
+ 6.4. What Must be in a Disclosure?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
+ 6.5. What Licensing Information to Detail in a Disclosure . . 12
+ 6.6. When is a Disclosure Required? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
+ 7. Failure to Disclose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
+ 8. Evaluating Alternative Technologies in IETF Working Groups . . 13
+ 9. Change Control for Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
+ 10. Licensing Requirements to Advance Standards Track Documents. . 14
+ 11. No IPR Disclosures in IETF Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
+ 12. Security Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
+ 13. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
+ 13.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
+ 13.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
+ 14. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
+ 15. Editor's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
+ Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
+
+1. Definitions
+
+ The following definitions are for terms used in the context of this
+ document. Other terms, including "IESG," "ISOC," "IAB," and "RFC
+ Editor," are defined in [RFC2028].
+
+ a. "IETF": In the context of this document, the IETF includes all
+ individuals who participate in meetings, working groups, mailing
+ lists, functions and other activities which are organized or
+ initiated by ISOC, the IESG or the IAB under the general
+ designation of the Internet Engineering Task Force or IETF, but
+ solely to the extent of such participation.
+
+ b. "IETF Standards Process": the activities undertaken by the IETF in
+ any of the settings described in 1(c) below.
+
+ c. "IETF Contribution": any submission to the IETF intended by the
+ Contributor for publication as all or part of an Internet-Draft or
+ RFC (except for RFC Editor Contributions described below) and any
+ statement made within the context of an IETF activity. Such
+ statements include oral statements in IETF sessions, as well as
+ written and electronic communications made at any time or place,
+ which are addressed to:
+
+ o the IETF plenary session,
+ o any IETF working group or portion thereof,
+ o the IESG, or any member thereof on behalf of the IESG,
+ o the IAB or any member thereof on behalf of the IAB,
+
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 2]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+ o any IETF mailing list, including the IETF list itself, any
+ working group or design team list, or any other list
+ functioning under IETF auspices,
+ o the RFC Editor or the Internet-Drafts function (except for RFC
+ Editor Contributions described below).
+
+ Statements made outside of an IETF session, mailing list or other
+ function, that are clearly not intended to be input to an IETF
+ activity, group or function, are not IETF Contributions in the
+ context of this document.
+
+ d. "Internet-Draft": temporary documents used in the IETF and RFC
+ Editor processes. Internet-Drafts are posted on the IETF web site
+ by the IETF Secretariat and have a nominal maximum lifetime in the
+ Secretariat's public directory of 6 months, after which they are
+ removed. Note that Internet-Drafts are archived many places on
+ the Internet, and not all of these places remove expired
+ Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts that are under active
+ consideration by the IESG are not removed from the Secretariat's
+ public directory until that consideration is complete. In
+ addition, the author of an Internet-Draft can request that the
+ lifetime in the Secretariat's public directory be extended before
+ the expiration.
+
+ e. "RFC": the basic publication series for the IETF. RFCs are
+ published by the RFC Editor and once published are never modified.
+ (See [RFC2026] Section 2.1)
+
+ f. "RFC Editor Contribution": An Internet-Draft intended by the
+ Contributor to be submitted to the RFC Editor for publication as
+ an Informational or Experimental RFC but not intended to be part
+ of the IETF Standards Process.
+
+ g. "IETF Internet-Drafts": Internet-Drafts other than RFC Editor
+ Contributions. Note that under Section 3.3(a) the grant of rights
+ in regards to IETF Internet-Drafts as specified in this document
+ is perpetual and irrevocable and thus survives the Secretariat's
+ removal of an Internet-Draft from the public directory, except as
+ limited by Section 3.3(a)(C). (See [RFC2026] Sections 2.2 and 8)
+
+ h. "IETF Documents": RFCs and Internet-Drafts except for Internet-
+ Drafts that are RFC Editor Contributions and the RFCs that are
+ published from them.
+
+ i. "RFC Editor Documents": RFCs and Internet-Drafts that are RFC
+ Editor Contributions and the RFCs that may be published from them.
+
+ j. "Contribution": IETF Contributions or RFC Editor Contributions
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 3]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+ k. "Contributor": an individual submitting a Contribution
+
+ l. "Reasonably and personally known": means something an individual
+ knows personally or, because of the job the individual holds,
+ would reasonably be expected to know. This wording is used to
+ indicate that an organization cannot purposely keep an individual
+ in the dark about patents or patent applications just to avoid the
+ disclosure requirement. But this requirement should not be
+ interpreted as requiring the IETF Contributor or participant (or
+ his or her represented organization, if any) to perform a patent
+ search to find applicable IPR.
+
+ m. "Implementing Technology": means a technology that implements an
+ IETF specification or standard.
+
+ n. "Covers" or "Covered" mean that a valid claim of a patent or a
+ patent application in any jurisdiction or a protected claim, or
+ any other Intellectual Property Right, would necessarily be
+ infringed by the exercise of a right (e.g., making, using,
+ selling, importing, distribution, copying, etc.) with respect to
+ an Implementing Technology. For purposes of this definition,
+ "valid claim" means a claim of any unexpired patent or patent
+ application which shall not have been withdrawn, cancelled or
+ disclaimed, nor held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction
+ in an unappealed or unappealable decision.
+
+ o. "IPR" or "Intellectual Property Rights": means patent, copyright,
+ utility model, invention registration, database and data rights
+ that may Cover an Implementing Technology, whether such rights
+ arise from a registration or renewal thereof, or an application
+ therefore, in each case anywhere in the world.
+
+2. Introduction
+
+ In the years since RFC 2026 was published there have been a number of
+ times when the exact intent of Section 10, the section which deals
+ with IPR disclosures has been the subject of vigorous debate within
+ the IETF community. This is because it is becoming increasingly
+ common for IETF working groups to have to deal with claims of
+ Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), such as patent rights, with
+ regards to technology under discussion in working groups. The aim of
+ this document is to clarify various ambiguities in Section 10 of
+ [RFC2026] that led to these debates and to amplify the policy in
+ order to clarify what the IETF is, or should be, doing.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 4]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+ IPR disclosures can come at any point in the IETF Standards Process,
+ e.g., before the first Internet-Draft has been submitted, prior to
+ RFC publication, or after an RFC has been published and the working
+ group has been closed down; they can come from people submitting
+ technical proposals as Internet-Drafts, on mailing lists or at
+ meetings, from other people participating in the working group or
+ from third parties who find out that the work is going or has gone
+ on; and they can be based on granted patents or on patent
+ applications, and in some cases be disingenuous, i.e., made to affect
+ the IETF Standards Process rather than to inform.
+
+ RFC 2026, Section 10 established three basic principles regarding the
+ IETF dealing with claims of Intellectual Property Rights:
+
+ (a) the IETF will make no determination about the validity of any
+ particular IPR claim
+ (b) the IETF following normal processes can decide to use technology
+ for which IPR disclosures have been made if it decides that such
+ a use is warranted
+ (c) in order for the working group and the rest of the IETF to have
+ the information needed to make an informed decision about the use
+ of a particular technology, all those contributing to the working
+ group's discussions must disclose the existence of any IPR the
+ Contributor or other IETF participant believes Covers or may
+ ultimately Cover the technology under discussion. This applies
+ to both Contributors and other participants, and applies whether
+ they contribute in person, via email or by other means. The
+ requirement applies to all IPR of the participant, the
+ participant's employer, sponsor, or others represented by the
+ participants, that is reasonably and personally known to the
+ participant. No patent search is required.
+
+ Section 1 defines the terms used in this document. Sections 3, 4 and
+ 5 of this document address the intellectual property issues
+ previously addressed by Section 10 of RFC 2026. Sections 6 thru 12
+ then explain the rationale for these provisions, including some of
+ the clarifications that have been made since the adoption of RFC
+ 2026. The rules and procedures set out in this document are not
+ intended to modify or alter the IETF's current policy toward IPR in
+ the context of the IETF Standards Process. They are intended to
+ clarify and fill in procedural gaps.
+
+ A companion document [RFC3978] deals with rights (such as copyrights
+ and trademarks) in Contributions, including the right of IETF and its
+ participants to publish and create derivative works of those
+ Contributions. This document is not intended to address those
+ issues.
+
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 5]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+ This document is not intended as legal advice. Readers are advised
+ to consult their own legal advisors if they would like a legal
+ interpretation of their rights or the rights of the IETF in any
+ Contributions they make.
+
+3. Contributions to the IETF
+
+3.1. General Policy
+
+ In all matters of Intellectual Property Rights, the intent is to
+ benefit the Internet community and the public at large, while
+ respecting the legitimate rights of others.
+
+3.2. Rights and Permissions
+
+3.2.1. All Contributions
+
+ By submission of a Contribution, each person actually submitting the
+ Contribution, and each named co-Contributor, is deemed to agree to
+ the following terms and conditions, on his or her own behalf, and on
+ behalf of the organizations the Contributor represents or is
+ sponsored by (if any) when submitting the Contribution.
+
+ A. The Contributor represents that he or she has made or will
+ promptly make all disclosures required by Section 6.1.1 of this
+ document.
+
+ B. The Contributor represents that there are no limits to the
+ Contributor's ability to make the grants, acknowledgments and
+ agreements herein that are reasonably and personally known to the
+ Contributor.
+
+ C. If the Contribution is an Internet-Draft, this agreement must be
+ acknowledged, by including in the "Status of this Memo" section on
+ the first page of the Contribution, the appropriate notices
+ described in Section 5 of [RFC3978].
+
+4. Actions for Documents for which IPR Disclosure(s) Have Been Received
+
+ (A) When any Intellectual Property Right is disclosed before
+ publication as an RFC, with respect to any technology or
+ specification, described in a Contribution in the manner set
+ forth in Section 6 of this document, the RFC Editor shall ensure
+ that the document include a note indicating the existence of such
+ claimed Intellectual Property Rights in any RFC published from
+ the Contribution. (See Section 5 below.)
+
+
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 6]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+ (B) The IESG disclaims any responsibility for identifying the
+ existence of or for evaluating the applicability of any IPR,
+ disclosed or otherwise, to any IETF technology, specification or
+ standard, and will take no position on the validity or scope of
+ any such IPR claims.
+
+ (C) Where Intellectual Property Rights have been disclosed for IETF
+ Documents as provided in Section 6 of this document, the IETF
+ Executive Director shall request from the discloser of such IPR,
+ a written assurance that upon approval by the IESG for
+ publication as RFCs of the relevant IETF specification(s), all
+ persons will be able to obtain the right to implement, use,
+ distribute and exercise other rights with respect to Implementing
+ Technology under one of the licensing options specified in
+ Section 6.5 below unless such a statement has already been
+ submitted. The working group proposing the use of the technology
+ with respect to which the Intellectual Property Rights are
+ disclosed may assist the IETF Executive Director in this effort.
+
+ The results of this procedure shall not, in themselves, block
+ publication of an IETF Document or advancement of an IETF
+ Document along the standards track. A working group may take
+ into consideration the results of this procedure in evaluating
+ the technology, and the IESG may defer approval when a delay may
+ facilitate obtaining such assurances. The results will, however,
+ be recorded by the IETF Executive Director, and be made available
+ online.
+
+4.1. No Determination of Reasonable and Non-discriminatory Terms
+
+ The IESG will not make any explicit determination that the assurance
+ of reasonable and non-discriminatory terms or any other terms for the
+ use of an Implementing Technology has been fulfilled in practice. It
+ will instead apply the normal requirements for the advancement of
+ Internet Standards. If the two unrelated implementations of the
+ specification that are required to advance from Proposed Standard to
+ Draft Standard have been produced by different organizations or
+ individuals, or if the "significant implementation and successful
+ operational experience" required to advance from Draft Standard to
+ Standard has been achieved, the IESG will presume that the terms are
+ reasonable and to some degree non-discriminatory. (See RFC 2026,
+ Section 4.1.3.) Note that this also applies to the case where
+ multiple implementers have concluded that no licensing is required.
+ This presumption may be challenged at any time, including during the
+ Last-Call period by sending email to the IESG.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 7]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+5. Notice to be Included in RFCs
+
+ The RFC Editor will ensure that the following notice is present in
+ all IETF RFCs and all other RFCs for which an IPR disclosure or
+ assertion has been received prior to publication.
+
+ Disclaimer of validity:
+
+ "The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
+ Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed
+ to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology
+ described in this document or the extent to which any license
+ under such rights might or might not be available; nor does it
+ represent that it has made any independent effort to identify any
+ such rights. Information on the procedures with respect to rights
+ in RFC documents can be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.
+
+ Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
+ assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
+ attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use
+ of such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
+ specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository
+ at http://www.ietf.org/ipr.
+
+ The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention
+ any copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other
+ proprietary rights that may cover technology that may be required
+ to implement this standard. Please address the information to the
+ IETF at ietf-ipr@ietf.org."
+
+6. IPR Disclosures
+
+ This section discusses aspects of obligations associated with IPR
+ disclosure.
+
+ This document refers to the IETF participant making disclosures,
+ consistent with the general IETF philosophy that participants in the
+ IETF act as individuals. A participant's obligation to make a
+ disclosure is also considered satisfied if the IPR owner or the
+ participant's employer or sponsor makes an appropriate disclosure in
+ place of the participant doing so.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 8]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+6.1. Who Must Make an IPR Disclosure?
+
+6.1.1. A Contributor's IPR in his or her Contribution
+
+ Any Contributor who reasonably and personally knows of IPR meeting
+ the conditions of Section 6.6 which the Contributor believes Covers
+ or may ultimately Cover his or her Contribution, or which the
+ Contributor reasonably and personally knows his or her employer or
+ sponsor may assert against Implementing Technologies based on such
+ Contribution, must make a disclosure in accordance with this Section
+ 6.
+
+ This requirement specifically includes Contributions that are made by
+ any means including electronic or spoken comments, unless the latter
+ are rejected from consideration before a disclosure could reasonably
+ be submitted. An IPR discloser is requested to withdraw a previous
+ disclosure if a revised Contribution negates the previous IPR
+ disclosure, or to amend a previous disclosure if a revised
+ Contribution substantially alters the previous disclosure.
+
+ Contributors must disclose IPR meeting the description in this
+ section; there are no exceptions to this rule.
+
+6.1.2. An IETF Participant's IPR in Contributions by Others
+
+ Any individual participating in an IETF discussion who reasonably and
+ personally knows of IPR meeting the conditions of Section 6.6 which
+ the individual believes Covers or may ultimately Cover a Contribution
+ made by another person, or which such IETF participant reasonably and
+ personally knows his or her employer or sponsor may assert against
+ Implementing Technologies based on such Contribution, must make a
+ disclosure in accordance with this Section 6.
+
+6.1.3. IPR of Others
+
+ If a person has information about IPR that may Cover IETF
+ Contributions, but the participant is not required to disclose
+ because they do not meet the criteria in Section 6.6 (e.g., the IPR
+ is owned by some other company), such person is encouraged to notify
+ the IETF by sending an email message to ietf-ipr@ietf.org. Such a
+ notice should be sent as soon as reasonably possible after the person
+ realizes the connection.
+
+6.2. The Timing of Providing Disclosure
+
+ Timely IPR disclosure is important because working groups need to
+ have as much information as they can while they are evaluating
+ alternative solutions.
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 9]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+6.2.1. Timing of Disclosure Under Section 6.1.1
+
+ The IPR disclosure required pursuant to section 6.1.1 must be made as
+ soon as reasonably possible after the Contribution is published in an
+ Internet Draft unless the required disclosure is already on file.
+ For example, if the Contribution is an update to a Contribution for
+ which an IPR disclosure has already been made and the applicability
+ of the disclosure is not changed by the new Contribution, then no new
+ disclosure is required. But if the Contribution is a new one, or is
+ one that changes an existing Contribution such that the revised
+ Contribution is no longer Covered by the disclosed IPR or would be
+ Covered by new or different IPR, then a disclosure must be made.
+
+ If a Contributor first learns of IPR in its Contribution that meets
+ the conditions of Section 6.6, for example a new patent application
+ or the discovery of a relevant patent in a patent portfolio, after
+ the Contribution is published in an Internet-Draft, a disclosure must
+ be made as soon as reasonably possible after the IPR becomes
+ reasonably and personally known to the Contributor.
+
+ Participants who realize that a Contribution will be or has been
+ incorporated into a submission to be published in an Internet Draft,
+ or is seriously being discussed in a working group, are strongly
+ encouraged to make at least a preliminary disclosure. That
+ disclosure should be made as soon after coming to the realization as
+ reasonably possible, not waiting until the document is actually
+ posted or ready for posting.
+
+6.2.2. Timing of Disclosure Under Section 6.1.2
+
+ The IPR disclosure required pursuant to section 6.1.2 must be made as
+ soon as reasonably possible after the Contribution is published in an
+ Internet Draft or RFC, unless the required disclosure is already on
+ file. Participants who realize that the IPR will be or has been
+ incorporated into a submission to be published in an Internet Draft,
+ or is seriously being discussed in a working group, are strongly
+ encouraged to make at least a preliminary disclosure. That
+ disclosure should be made as soon after coming to the realization as
+ reasonably possible, not waiting until the document is actually
+ posted or ready for posting.
+
+ If a participant first learns of IPR that meets the conditions of
+ Section 6.6 in a Contribution by another party, for example a new
+ patent application or the discovery of a relevant patent in a patent
+ portfolio, after the Contribution was published in an Internet-Draft
+ or RFC, a disclosure must be made as soon as reasonably possible
+ after the IPR becomes reasonably and personally known to the
+ participant.
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 10]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+6.3. How Must a Disclosure be Made?
+
+ IPR disclosures are made by following the instructions at
+ http://www.ietf.org/ipr-instructions.
+
+6.4. What Must be in a Disclosure?
+
+6.4.1. The disclosure must list the numbers of any issued patents or
+ published patent applications or indicate that the claim is based on
+ unpublished patent applications. The disclosure must also list the
+ specific IETF or RFC Editor Document(s) or activity affected. If the
+ IETF Document is an Internet-Draft, it must be referenced by specific
+ version number. In addition, if the IETF Document includes multiple
+ parts and it is not reasonably apparent which part of such IETF
+ Document is alleged to be Covered by the IPR in question, it is
+ helpful if the discloser identifies the sections of the IETF Document
+ that are alleged to be so Covered.
+
+6.4.2. If a disclosure was made on the basis of a patent application
+ (either published or unpublished), then, if requested to do so by the
+ IESG or by a working group chair, the IETF Executive Director can
+ request a new disclosure indicating whether any of the following has
+ occurred: the publication of a previously unpublished patent
+ application, the abandonment of the application and/or the issuance
+ of a patent thereon. If the patent has issued, then the new
+ disclosure must include the patent number and, if the claims of the
+ granted patent differ from those of the application in manner
+ material to the relevant Contribution, it is helpful if such a
+ disclosure describes any differences in applicability to the
+ Contribution. If the patent application was abandoned, then the new
+ disclosure must explicitly withdraw any earlier disclosures based on
+ the application.
+
+ New or revised disclosures may be made voluntarily at any time.
+
+6.4.3. The requirement for an IPR disclosure is not satisfied by the
+ submission of a blanket statement of possible IPR on every
+ Contribution. This is the case because the aim of the disclosure
+ requirement is to provide information about specific IPR against
+ specific technology under discussion in the IETF. The requirement is
+ also not satisfied by a blanket statement of willingness to license
+ all potential IPR under fair and non-discriminatory terms for the
+ same reason. However, the requirement for an IPR disclosure is
+ satisfied by a blanket statement of the IPR discloser's willingness
+ to license all of its potential IPR meeting the requirements of
+ Section 6.6 (and either Section 6.1.1 or 6.1.2) to implementers of an
+ IETF specification on a royalty-free basis as long as any other terms
+ and conditions are disclosed in the IPR disclosure statement.
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 11]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+6.5. What Licensing Information to Detail in a Disclosure
+
+ Since IPR disclosures will be used by IETF working groups during
+ their evaluation of alternative technical solutions, it is helpful if
+ an IPR disclosure includes information about licensing of the IPR in
+ case Implementing Technologies require a license. Specifically, it
+ is helpful to indicate whether, upon approval by the IESG for
+ publication as RFCs of the relevant IETF specification(s), all
+ persons will be able to obtain the right to implement, use,
+ distribute and exercise other rights with respect to an Implementing
+ Technology a) under a royalty-free and otherwise reasonable and non-
+ discriminatory license, or b) under a license that contains
+ reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions, including a
+ reasonable royalty or other payment, or c) without the need to obtain
+ a license from the IPR holder.
+
+ The inclusion of licensing information in IPR disclosures is not
+ mandatory but it is encouraged so that the working groups will have
+ as much information as they can during their deliberations. If the
+ inclusion of licensing information in an IPR disclosure would
+ significantly delay its submission it is quite reasonable to submit a
+ disclosure without licensing information and then submit a new
+ disclosure when the licensing information becomes available.
+
+6.6. When is a Disclosure Required?
+
+ IPR disclosures under Sections 6.1.1. and 6.1.2 are required with
+ respect to IPR that is owned directly or indirectly, by the
+ individual or his/her employer or sponsor (if any) or that such
+ persons otherwise have the right to license or assert.
+
+7. Failure to Disclose
+
+ There are cases where individuals are not permitted by their
+ employers or by other factors to disclose the existence or substance
+ of patent applications or other IPR. Since disclosure is required
+ for anyone submitting documents or participating in IETF discussions,
+ a person who does not disclose IPR for this reason, or any other
+ reason, must not contribute to or participate in IETF activities with
+ respect to technologies that he or she reasonably and personally
+ knows to be Covered by IPR which he or she will not disclose.
+ Contributing to or participating in IETF discussions about a
+ technology without making required IPR disclosures is a violation of
+ IETF process.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+8. Evaluating Alternative Technologies in IETF Working Groups
+
+ In general, IETF working groups prefer technologies with no known IPR
+ claims or, for technologies with claims against them, an offer of
+ royalty-free licensing. But IETF working groups have the discretion
+ to adopt technology with a commitment of fair and non-discriminatory
+ terms, or even with no licensing commitment, if they feel that this
+ technology is superior enough to alternatives with fewer IPR claims
+ or free licensing to outweigh the potential cost of the licenses.
+
+ Over the last few years the IETF has adopted stricter requirements
+ for some security technologies. It has become common to have a
+ mandatory-to-implement security technology in IETF technology
+ specifications. This is to ensure that there will be at least one
+ common security technology present in all implementations of such a
+ specification that can be used in all cases. This does not limit the
+ specification from including other security technologies, the use of
+ which could be negotiated between implementations. An IETF consensus
+ has developed that no mandatory-to-implement security technology can
+ be specified in an IETF specification unless it has no known IPR
+ claims against it or a royalty-free license is available to
+ implementers of the specification unless there is a very good reason
+ to do so. This limitation does not extend to other security
+ technologies in the same specification if they are not listed as
+ mandatory-to-implement.
+
+ It should also be noted that the absence of IPR disclosures is not
+ the same thing as the knowledge that there will be no IPR claims in
+ the future. People or organizations not currently involved in the
+ IETF or people or organizations that discover IPR they feel to be
+ relevant in their patent portfolios can make IPR disclosures at any
+ time.
+
+ It should also be noted that the validity and enforceability of any
+ IPR may be challenged for legitimate reasons, and the mere existence
+ of an IPR disclosure should not automatically be taken to mean that
+ the disclosed IPR is valid or enforceable. Although the IETF can
+ make no actual determination of validity, enforceability or
+ applicability of any particular IPR claim, it is reasonable that a
+ working group will take into account on their own opinions of the
+ validity, enforceability or applicability of Intellectual Property
+ Rights in their evaluation of alternative technologies.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+9. Change Control for Technologies
+
+ The IETF must have change control over the technology described in
+ any standards track IETF Documents in order to fix problems that may
+ be discovered or to produce other derivative works.
+
+ In some cases the developer of patented or otherwise controlled
+ technology may decide to hand over to the IETF the right to evolve
+ the technology (a.k.a., "change control"). The implementation of an
+ agreement between the IETF and the developer of the technology can be
+ complex. (See [RFC1790] and [RFC2339] for examples.)
+
+ Note that there is no inherent prohibition against a standards track
+ IETF Document making a normative reference to proprietary technology.
+ For example, a number of IETF Standards support proprietary
+ cryptographic transforms.
+
+10. Licensing Requirements to Advance Standards Track IETF Documents
+
+ RFC 2026 Section 4.1.2 states: "If patented or otherwise controlled
+ technology is required for implementation, the separate
+ implementations must also have resulted from separate exercise of the
+ licensing process." A key word in this text is "required." The mere
+ existence of disclosed IPR does not necessarily mean that licenses
+ are actually required in order to implement the technology. Section
+ 4.1 of this document should be taken to apply to the case where there
+ are multiple implementations and none of the implementers have felt
+ that they needed to license the technology and they have no plausible
+ indications that any IPR holder(s) will try to enforce their IPR.
+
+11. No IPR Disclosures in IETF Documents
+
+ IETF and RFC Editor Documents must not contain any mention of
+ specific IPR. All specific IPR disclosures must be submitted as
+ described in Section 6. Specific IPR disclosures must not be in the
+ affected IETF and RFC Editor Documents because the reader could be
+ misled. The inclusion of a particular IPR disclosure in a document
+ could be interpreted to mean that the IETF, IESG, or RFC Editor has
+ formed an opinion on the validity, enforceability, or applicability
+ of the IPR. The reader could also be misled to think that the
+ included IPR disclosures are the only IPR disclosures the IETF has
+ received concerning the IETF document. Readers should always refer
+ to the on-line web page to get a full list of IPR disclosures
+ received by the IETF concerning any Contribution.
+ (http://www.ietf.org/ipr/)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 14]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+12. Security Considerations
+
+ This memo relates to IETF process, not any particular technology.
+ There are security considerations when adopting any technology,
+ whether IPR-protected or not. A working group should take those
+ security considerations into account as one part of evaluating the
+ technology, just as IPR is one part, but there are no known issues of
+ security with IPR procedures.
+
+13. References
+
+13.1. Normative References
+
+ [RFC2026] Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
+ 3", BCP 9, RFC 2026, October 1996.
+
+ [RFC2028] Hovey, R. and S. Bradner, "The Organizations Involved in
+ the IETF Standards Process", BCP 11, RFC 2028, October
+ 1996.
+
+ [RFC2418] Bradner, S., "IETF Working Group Guidelines and
+ Procedures", BCP 25, RFC 2418, September 1998.
+
+ [RFC3978] Bradner, S., Ed., "IETF Rights in Contributions", BCP 78,
+ RFC 3978, January 2005.
+
+13.2. Informative References
+
+ [RFC1790] Cerf, V., "An Agreement between the Internet Society and
+ Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the Matter of ONC RPC and XDR
+ Protocols", RFC 1790, April 1995.
+
+ [RFC2339] The Internet Society and Sun Microsystems, "An Agreement
+ Between the Internet Society, the IETF, and Sun
+ Microsystems, Inc. in the matter of NFS V.4 Protocols", RFC
+ 2339, May 1998.
+
+14. Acknowledgements
+
+ The editor would like to acknowledge the help of the IETF IPR Working
+ Group and, in particular the help of Jorge Contreras of Hale and Dorr
+ for his careful legal reviews of this and other IETF IPR-related and
+ process documents. The editor would also like to thank Valerie See
+ for her extensive comments and suggestions.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+Editor's Address
+
+ Scott Bradner
+ Harvard University
+ 29 Oxford St.
+ Cambridge MA, 02138
+
+ Phone: +1 617 495 3864
+ EMail: sob@harvard.edu
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 16]
+
+RFC 3979 IP in IETF Technology March 2005
+
+
+Full Copyright Statement
+
+ Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
+
+ This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
+ contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
+ retain all their rights.
+
+ This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
+ "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
+ OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
+ ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
+ INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
+ INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
+ WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Intellectual Property
+
+ The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
+ Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
+ pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
+ this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
+ might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
+ made any independent effort to identify any such rights. Information
+ on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
+ found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.
+
+ Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
+ assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
+ attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
+ such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
+ specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
+ http://www.ietf.org/ipr.
+
+ The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
+ copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
+ rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
+ this standard. Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-
+ ipr@ietf.org.
+
+Acknowledgement
+
+ Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
+ Internet Society.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 17]
+