DOCUMENT #: GSC15-IPR-02 FOR: Presentation SOURCE: ETSI AGENDA ITEM: 4 CONTACT(S): Erik Jansen, ETSI Legal Director Activities/Developments related to the ETSI IPR Policy Presenter: Erik Jansen, ETSI Legal Director Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) GSC-15 Background / main characteristics of the ETSI IPR Policy No technical reservation for the inclusion of IPRs in standards. Early identification and disclosure of essential IPRs. Ensuring the future applicability of the standards in full respect of the rights of the IPR owner by requesting irrevocable FRAND licensing undertaking. No involvement of ETSI in any commercial discussion on IPR matters (i.e. terms and conditions of the licenses to be determined by the parties of the agreement). Voluntary, unilateral, public ex ante disclosures of licensing terms for the sole purpose of assisting members in making informed (unilateral and independent) decisions in relation to whether solutions best meet the technical objectives, are not prohibited under the ETSI IPR Policy. In this context, ETSI provides a depository for URLs of IPR owners, which contain the relevant information. 2 ETSI IPR Special Committee Since GSC# 14 two meetings of the ETSI IPR SC have taken place. IPR SC 06 (02-04/09/2009) and IPR SC 07 (08-09/02/2010). Dirk Weiler (Nokia Siemens Networks) is the Chairman of the IPR SC and the IPR SC elected in IPR SC 07 Serge Raes (France Telecom) as Vice-Chairman. The main two topics discussed at these IPR SC were the database restructuring of the ETSI IPR data base, the “DARE Project”, and the elaboration of an ETSI Guide on Software copyright. 3 DARE Project (1) IPR Transparency Increase IPR Transparency Current architecture Requirements Target architecture 1.Consistent data 2.Normalised numbers 3.Patent families 4.Top-down overview 5.History tracking 6.Scanned forms 7.User SQL queries 8.Revised UI 4 DARE Project (2) Status/Timeline In September 2009 the analysis phase was finalized and the construction phase started. Phase 1 of the construction phase was achieved end of January 2010, i.e. first scope application with limited functionalities. Phase 2 of the construction and the migration of the legacy data has been started. Field tests by member companies are scheduled for autumn 2010 Acceptance testing scheduled for end of 2010 DARE system to be in operation in Q1 2011 5 DARE Project (3) Current Architecture USERS XML interface Web interface (search, display) Online declaration Database of Declarations 6 6 DARE Project (4) Target Architecture Current System (FROZEN) USERS Scanned Declarations (NEW) Generic Query Access (NEW) Improved web interface (REPLACED) IPR Family ETSI Deliverabl e m ETSI Project m m Improved Online declaration (REPLACED) Migration Module (NEW) Declaration Modification History (NEW) Consistency Checks (NEW) n n IPR n RELATIONAL DATABASE (REPLACED) Reporting (NEW) 7 Other ETSI applications Data normalisation and synchronisation (NEW) EPO 7 DARE Project (5) List of Target System Features Key features Secondary features • Declaration • Search for declarations and patents • Generic screen for declaration detail (modify, display) • Declaration life cycle • Scanned documents • External identifiers Consistency Checks • ETSI management fields Dynamic Reporting • Prefilled submission form for online submissions Data Normalisation Patent Family Handling Modification history Patent Essentiality* Generic Query Access * The database provides data that is based on the information received. ETSI does not check nor investigate whether an IPR is valid or essential. All features address the key requirement “Increase IPR Transparency”, and are therefore mandatory for the target system architecture. • • Emails • Notification emails • Modifiable email templates Master data & user management • Display screens for master data instance (with links to related elements) • Master data management • User management 8 ETSI Guide on Software Copyright (1) Agreement that there is a need for guidance on software copyright within ETSI. Such Guide on Software Copyright will be discussed/ elaborated in the IPR SC. Initial Position: Definition of IPR in ETSI IPR Policy includes copyrights. The incorporation of copyrighted software in a standard or technical specification raises additional issues that need to be addressed. Growing number of copyright requests for the use of software shows the need for guidance. Considerable discussion took place in IPR SC 6 and IPR SC 7. No final consensus was achieved but it was acknowledged that the discussion had enabled wider common understanding of the issue and that a drafting group should discuss and prepare a text for the next meeting based on the following assumptions: 9 ETSI Guide on Software Copyright (2) Assumptions: • to find a solution which maintains the present status quo • default assumption that copyright will be granted • it does not put an extra burden on the TBs • it does not increase the liability of contributors concerning third party copyright • there was strong support from many meeting participants that they don't consider to collect royalties on the discussed copyrights and that therefore a copyright approach without royalties and liabilities could be considered as default • to consider the approach already taken by other SDOs e.g. ANSI, ITU, etc. • It was also agreed that such a proposal should: try to not modify the IPR Policy itself. result in either a new "Software Guide" or a modification to the existing IPR Guide. 10 MoU with EPO Signed in November 2009 Increase co-operation in matters of standards and intellectual property: - share knowledge, information and documentation on technology and standards. - collaborate on education related to standards and IP issues. - to co-operate by interlinking ETSI’s enhanced intellectual property rights database system with the EPO’s publicly accessible patent databases. The MoU is a further milestone in the long-lasting and fruitful relationship between ETSI and EPO, which started when EPO became a member of ETSI in 2003. Among a variety of collaborative actions, ETSI has provided EPO examiners access to its documents in order to facilitate their work and improve the identification of “prior art”. 11 Conclusions ETSI IPR Policy continues to fairly balance all the interests involved. ETSI IPR Policy is one of the key elements for the success of ETSI’s globally-applicable standards. ETSI is effectively facing new challenges and, where necessary, adapts/clarifies its Directives to meet the requirements of a changing environment. 12 Thank you for your attention Legal@etsi.org GSC#15 – Beijing 2010 30 August-2 September Erik Jansen, LL.M. ETSI Legal Director Copyright © ETSI 2010. All rights reserved