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<h1><a id="title" name="title">Overview and Summary of W3C Royalty-Free
Patent Policy</a></h1>

<h2><a id="subtitle" name="subtitle">19 March 2003</a></h2>
<dl>
  <dt>This version:</dt>
    <dd><a
      href="http://www.w3.org/2003/03/19-patentsummary">http://www.w3.org/2003/03/19-patentsummary</a>,
      about <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-patent-policy-20030319/">19
      Mar 2003 Patent Policy</a> (AC &amp; Public Review draft)</dd>
  <dt>Editors:</dt>
    <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Weitzner.html">Daniel J.
      Weitzner</a>, W3C/MIT<br />
      <a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs/">Ian Jacobs</a>, W3C</dd>
</dl>

<p class="copyright"><a
href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Copyright">Copyright</a>
© 2003 <a href="http://www.w3.org/"><acronym
title="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</acronym></a><sup>®</sup> (<a
href="http://www.lcs.mit.edu/"><acronym
title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology">MIT</acronym></a>, <a
href="http://www.ercim.org/"><acronym
title="European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics">ERCIM</acronym></a>,
<a href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/">Keio</a>), All Rights Reserved. W3C <a
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href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#W3C_Trademarks">trademark</a>,
<a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-documents">document
use</a> and <a
href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-software">software
licensing</a> rules apply.</p>
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<hr title="Separator for header" />

<h2><a id="Abstract" name="Abstract">Abstract</a></h2>

<p>This is a summary of the proposed W3C Royalty-Free Patent Policy. The
policy governs the handling of patents in the process of producing Web
standards. The goal of the patent policy is to enable continued innovation
and widespread adoption of Web standards developed by the World Wide Web
Consortium.</p>

<h2><a id="Status" name="Status">Status of This Document</a></h2>

<p style="background:orange"><strong>This document has been superseded by the
<a href="http://www.w3.org/2004/02/05-patentsummary.html">5 Feb 2004 version</a>.</strong></p>

<p>This is a non-normative summary of the proposed W3C Royalty-Free Patent
Policy. The only authoritative statement of W3C Patent Policy is contained in
the complete <a
href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-patent-policy-20030319/">W3C Royalty-Free
Patent Policy</a>. The sole purpose of this document is to provide a more
accessible summary and explanation of the complete policy. As a summary, some
important details are omitted and many provisions are simplified for the sake
of basic understanding. This document has not been reviewed by W3C's <a
href="http://www.w3.org/2001/ppwg/">Patent Policy Working Group (PPWG)</a>.
Please note that the patent policy W3C ultimately adopts may be different
from what is described here.</p>

<p>The public and W3C Members are invited to send comments on this document
to the www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org mailing list (<a
href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-patentpolicy-comment/">public
archive</a>).</p>
<hr />

<h2>1. Background</h2>

<p>In the early years of W3C's work on Web standards, innovation arose out of
a combination of community-wide collaboration on open standards and fierce
competition in implementation of those standards. Patents were not initially
identified as a barrier to innovation or interoperability because no one was
aware of any patent claims asserted to block standards-based
interoperability. However, as the Web become more commercially prominent and
the number of software and business process patents increased, some patent
holders sought to require license payments as a condition of implementing Web
standards. In some cases, these patent holders had also participated in the
development of those standards. The W3C community came to the conclusion that
it is essential to have a clear patent policy governing standards development
to assure that the fundamental dynamics of innovation and interoperability
that made the Web successful would be able to continue.</p>

<p>The proposed W3C Patent Policy contains a series of provisions designed
to:</p>
<ol>
  <li>facilitate the development of W3C Recommendations by W3C Working
  Groups;</li>
  <li>promote the widespread implementation of those Recommendations;</li>
  <li>address issues related to patents that arise during and after the
    development of a Recommendation.</li>
</ol>

<h2>2. How the Policy Facilitates Work</h2>

<p>The first effect of the policy is to set expectations about W3C's <a
href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-patent-policy-20030319/#sec-Licensing">licensing
goals</a>: the goal of each W3C Working Group is to produce a Recommendation
that is not only technically sound, but that can be implemented according to
the <a
href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-patent-policy-20030319/#sec-Requirements">W3C
Royalty-Free License requirements</a>.</p>

<p>Though Working Group participants keep this goal in mind, the policy is
designed to enable them to concentrate on technical design without worrying
about patents at every step. The policy establishes up front that:</p>
<ol>
  <li>By virtue of participating in a Working Group, the participating
    organization formally commits to the W3C Royalty-Free license
    requirements for patents found to be "essential" to the Recommendation.
    An "<a
    href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-patent-policy-20030319/#def-essential">essential
    claim</a>" is one that would necessarily be infringed by an implementer
    of the Recommendation; in other contexts this may be called a blocking
    patent.</li>
  <li>Working Group participants are not required to disclose known patents
    as long as the participating organization commits to licensing any
    patents it may hold according to the W3C Royalty-Free License
    requirements.</li>
</ol>

<p>Thus, as long as no patents are brought to the attention of the Working
Group, they can focus on technical issues. The policy does not encourage W3C
to stick its collective head in the sand, however. The policy requires public
<a
href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-patent-policy-20030319/#sec-Disclosure">disclosure</a>
of patents and patent applications if someone developing a W3C Recommendation
has "actual knowledge" that the patent contains claims that may be essential,
and that person does not agree to the W3C Royalty-Free License requirements.
No one is required to perform a portfolio search in order to satisfy the
disclosure requirement.</p>

<p>The policy also accounts for the situation where a participant may not
wish that a particular patent be subject to the W3C Royalty-Free License
requirements. The policy allows participants, in certain conditions, to <a
href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-patent-policy-20030319/#sec-Exclusion">exclude
specific patents</a> from the licensing commitment (within a well-defined
time limit). This has the dual effect of raising the Working Group's
awareness of a possible obstacle to progress, and allowing patent holders to
participate knowing that they can exclude strategic technology early in the
process and still contribute to the overall effort.</p>

<h2>3. How the Policy Promotes Implementation</h2>

<p>The policy promotes the widespread implementation of W3C Recommendations
first by making the <a
href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-patent-policy-20030319/#sec-Requirements">W3C
Royalty-Free License requirements</a> clear and enforceable . To qualify
under the policy, a license must satisfy the following requirements (see the
policy for additional details and conditions):</p>
<ul>
  <li>The license must be available to all implementers and users whether or
    not they are W3C Members.</li>
  <li>The license may be limited to implementations of the
  Recommendation;</li>
  <li>The license may require a royalty-free "grant back" or reciprocal
    licenses either to the original patent holder or to all other
    implementers;</li>
  <li>The license must not charge a fee or royalty;</li>
  <li>The license may be suspended if the licensee sues the licensor;</li>
  <li>The license must not impose any other material conditions, such as
    requirements to use other technologies, etc.</li>
</ul>

<p>Thus, the policy promotes implementation of W3C Recommendations by clearly
establishing licensing requirements, by ensuring that a license is available
to all, and by ensuring that exclusions and disclosures are public.</p>

<h2><a id="sec-Exception" name="sec-Exception">4. How the Policy Addresses
Exceptions</a></h2>

<p>When any obstacle related to patents threatens Working Group progress, W3C
launches a task force, called a "<a
href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-patent-policy-20030319/#sec-Exception">Patent
Advisory Group</a>," or PAG, to address the conflict. The proposed policy
describes the composition of a PAG, the procedures they follow to help
address conflicts, and possible outcomes. The possible outcomes are:</p>
<ol>
  <li>The initial concern has been resolved, enabling the Working Group to
    continue.</li>
  <li>The Working Group should be instructed to consider designing around the
    identified claims.</li>
  <li>The W3C Team should seek further information and evaluation, including
    and not limited to evaluation of the patents in question or the terms
    under which the Royalty-Free Licensing requirements may be met.</li>
  <li>The Working Group should be terminated.</li>
  <li>The Recommendation (if it has already been issued) should be
  rescinded.</li>
  <li><a
    href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-patent-policy-20030319/#sec-PAG-conclude-alternate">Alternative
    licensing terms</a> should be considered.</li>
</ol>

<p>If the PAG recommends that the technology be included in the
Recommendation under terms that are different from W3C's stated <a
href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/WD-patent-policy-20030319/#sec-Licensing">licensing
goals</a>, the policy insists on caution by requiring several levels of
review and consensus before W3C accepts those terms. This flexibility allows
W3C to address the unusual case in which community consensus (including both
public and W3C Member perspectives) finds that departure from the strict
licensing goals is appropriate. Such departure requires the Director to find
that the proposed alternative is consistent with the W3C mission, the
interests of the Web community, and is clearly justified despite the
expressed preference of the W3C Membership for Royalty-Free licensing.</p>
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