RFC 3905

A Template for IETF Patent Disclosures and Licensing Declarations

📅 published September 2004, from ietf

RFC 3905: A Template for IETF Patent Disclosures and Licensing Declarations ✨

Okay bestie, let's get the basics down first 🎀. This one is from September 2004 and was written by V. See, Ed. at Microsoft 💅. It's an Informational RFC, so it's here to share information with the Internet community and doesn't create any standard. Its header doesn't list anything it obsoletes or updates, so it's a clean slate 🦋.

Status of this Memo 💜

This memo gives info to the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).

Abstract 🍓

Okay so this doc describes one possible form of a template for IETF patent disclosures and licensing declarations ✨. Using the template is totally optional, and its whole vibe is to make disclosing patents and making licensing declarations way easier. It also helps disclosers include the info they need to meet the obligations written down in [RFC3668] (RFC 3668) 🫶.

Table of Contents 🧚

   1. Introduction...................................................  1
   2. The Patent Disclosure and Licensing Declaration Template.......  2
   3. Commentary on Terms Used in the Template.......................  5
   4. Security Considerations........................................  7
   5. Normative References...........................................  7
   6. Acknowledgments................................................  7
   7  Editor's Address...............................................  8
   8. Authors' Addresses.............................................  8
   9. Full Copyright Statement.......................................  9

1. Introduction 🎀

Okay so [RFC3668] (RFC 3668) is the main place where the IETF lays out its current policies and obligations for disclosing patents and patent applications. It also covers the info that gets asked for in licensing declarations for IETF specs 📚. To make all of this less of a headache, this doc proposes a patent disclosure and licensing declaration template. Participants and patent holders can optionally use it as one way to meet the patent disclosure requirements and licensing declaration provisions under RFC 3668 💖.

This proposal can also be optionally used as a model by the IETF Secretariat for Web-based disclosure and licensing declaration tools 🌈. But the vibe here is informational only. It isn't saying this is the one and only way for IETF participants to disclose patents or make licensing declarations, bestie 🙈. For the latest info on how to submit a patent disclosure or licensing declaration, check out http://www.ietf.org/ipr-instructions ✨.

IPR disclosures should be submitted in English, since that's the working language of the IETF 🇬🇧. Names of people and companies should be written the way they usually appear in an English-speaking context 💅.

2. The Patent Disclosure and Licensing Declaration Template 🦋

This section is the template itself, so I've kept it totally verbatim in a code block. Don't touch a single character, babe 🫶.

   START OF TEMPLATE

   This document is an IETF Patent Disclosure and Licensing Declaration
   Template and is submitted to inform the IETF of a) patent information
   regarding the IETF document or contribution listed in Section IV, and
   b) a Patent Holder's intention with respect to the licensing of its
   necessary patent claims.  No actual license is implied by submission
   of this template.  Please complete and submit a separate template for
   each IETF document or contribution to which the disclosed patent
   information relates.

   I. Patent Holder/Applicant ("Patent Holder")

   Legal Name:

   II. Patent Holder's Contact for License Application

   Name:

   Title:

   Department:

   Address:

   Telephone:

   Fax:

   Email:

   III. Contact Information for the IETF Participant Whose Personal
   Belief Triggered the Disclosure in this Template (Optional)

   Name:

   Title:

   Department:

   Address:

   Telephone:

   Fax:

   Email:

   IV. IETF Document or Contribution to Which Patent Disclosure Relates

   Title:

   RFC Number or I-D Tag:

   Other Designations:

   V. Disclosure of Patent Information (i.e., patents or patent
   applications required to be disclosed by Section 6 of RFC 3668)

   A. For granted patents or published pending patent applications,
   please provide the following information:

   Patent, Serial, Publication, Registration, or Application/File
   number(s):

   Date(s) granted or applied for (YYYY-MM-DD):

   Country(ies):

   B. Does your disclosure relate to an unpublished pending patent
   application?

   Select one:  Yes  ______  No ______
   C. If an Internet-Draft or RFC includes multiple parts and it is not
   reasonably apparent which part of such an Internet-Draft or RFC is
   alleged to be covered by the patent information disclosed in Section
   V(A) or V(B), it is helpful if the discloser identifies here the
   sections of the Internet-Draft or RFC that are alleged to be so
   covered.

   VI. Licensing Declaration

   The Patent Holder states that its position with respect to licensing
   any patent claims contained in the patent(s) or patent application(s)
   disclosed above that would necessarily be infringed by implementation
   of the technology required by the relevant IETF specification
   ("Necessary Patent Claims"), for the purpose of implementing such a
   specification, is as follows (select one licensing declaration option
   only):

   a) ___   No License Required for Implementers
              Check here if commitment to forgo a license is limited
              solely to standards-track RFCs ___

   b) ___   Royalty-Free, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory License to
            All Implementers
              Check here if this commitment to license is limited solely
              to standards-track RFCs ___

   c) ___   Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory License to All
            Implementers with Possible Royalty/Fee
              Check here if this commitment to license is limited solely
              to standards-track RFCs ___

   d) ___   Licensing Declaration to be Provided Later (implies a
            willingness to commit to the provisions of a), b), or c)
            above; otherwise, the next option - "Unwilling to Commit to
            the Provisions of a), b), or c) Above" - must be selected)

   e) ___   Unwilling to Commit to the Provisions of a), b), or c)
            Above

   NOTE: The individual submitting this template represents and warrants
   that he or she is authorized by the Patent Holder to agree to the
   above-selected licensing declaration.

   VII. Contact Information of Submitter of this Form (if different from
   IETF Participant in Section III above)
   Name:

   Title:

   Department:

   Address:

   Telephone:

   Fax:

   Email:

   VIII. Other Notes:

   END OF TEMPLATE

3. Commentary on Terms Used in the Template 💅

Okay so Section III is where you put the contact info for the Patent Holder's IETF participant. That's the person whose personal belief that necessary patent claims are involved in an IETF doc or contribution is what kicked off this template being filed 🔥. This section is optional, but if you skip Section III, then Section VII has to be filled in. Even if you do fill in Section III, Section VII still has to be filled in if the submitter isn't the same person as the IETF participant in Section III 🙈.

The "Other Designations" field in Section IV can be used to name an IETF contribution (oral or written) that isn't an Internet-Draft or RFC but is still related to a disclosure ✨.

Here's the rundown on the licensing declaration options in Section VI of the template 🎀:

  • a) No License Required for Implementers: The Patent Holder doesn't require anyone to get a license to its Necessary Patent Claims in order to make, have made, use, import, offer to sell, sell, or distribute technology that implements such an IETF specification 💖.
  • b) Royalty-Free, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory License to All Implementers: The Patent Holder is willing, upon request, to grant a license to its Necessary Patent Claims to all persons on a royalty-free basis (i.e., no royalty or other fee) and under other reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions, to make, have made, use, import, offer to sell, sell, and distribute technology that implements such an IETF specification 🌈.
  • c) Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory License to All Implementers with Possible Royalty/Fee: The Patent Holder is willing, upon request, to grant a license to its Necessary Patent Claims to all persons under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions (which may include a royalty/fee), to make, have made, use, import, offer to sell, sell, and distribute technology that implements such an IETF specification 🦋.
  • d) Licensing Declaration to be Provided Later: The Patent Holder is willing to commit to the provisions of a), b), or c) above, but wants to hold off on picking one of these licensing declaration options until later (or until the IESG asks for this info) 🧚. This option can't be selected if the Patent Holder is unwilling to commit to the provisions of a), b), or c) above. In that case, the Patent Holder has to select licensing declaration option e) - "Unwilling to Commit to the Provisions of a), b), or c) Above" 💀.
  • e) Unwilling to Commit to the Provisions of a), b), or c) Above: The Patent Holder indicates it isn't willing to commit to the provisions of any of options a), b), or c) described above 🥀.
Options a), b), and c) also let the Patent Holder check a box to say whether its licensing declaration is limited solely to standards-track RFCs ✨. If that box is left unchecked, the Patent Holder's licensing declaration will be treated as applying to any implementation of the relevant IETF specification, including non-standards-track documents and Internet-Drafts 👑. The Patent Holder can still list other conditions or restrictions on its commitment to forgo a license (option a)) or on its commitment to license (options b) and c)) in Section VIII - "Other Notes." This standards-track qualifier doesn't matter for options d) and e), because under d) the Patent Holder hasn't picked its specific licensing intention yet, and under e) it has said it won't commit to any of options a), b), or c) above 💅.

Section VIII, "Other Notes," is there for any extra info a discloser or Patent Holder wants to share 🫶. For example, a Patent Holder can use "Other Notes" to list other conditions or restrictions on the licensing declaration option picked in Section VI. Some examples are 1) reciprocity, or 2) a license that's only available for implementations of any RFC (standards-track or non-standards-track), but not for implementations of Internet-Drafts or other documents 🌸.

4. Security Considerations 🔥

This document is about the IETF process, not any one particular technology ✨. There are security considerations when adopting any particular technology, no matter whether patent or patent application disclosures or licensing declarations are involved with that technology 💀. A working group should take those security considerations into account as part of evaluating the technology. But there are no security considerations per se with these IETF processes 🛡️.

5. Normative References 💜

   [RFC3668] Bradner, S., "Intellectual Property Rights in IETF
             Technology", BCP 79, RFC 3668, February 2004.

6. Acknowledgments ✨

Okay, big shoutout bestie 🫶 The authors thank Harald Alvestrand and Scott Bradner for their thoughtful contributions to this document. Iconic behaviour, honestly 👑

7. Editor's Address 💌

Here's where to find the editor, Valerie See, at Microsoft Corporation 🖥️

Valerie See
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052 USA

EMail: vsee@microsoft.com

8. Authors' Addresses 🦋

And here are the authors, all of them repping Cisco Systems, Inc. except Allen, who's over at Juniper Networks 🌸

Robert Barr
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134 USA

EMail: rbarr@cisco.com


Scott Brim
Cisco Systems, Inc.
146 Honess Lane
Ithaca, NY 14850 USA

EMail: sbrim@cisco.com


Paul Gleichauf
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134 USA

EMail: phg@cisco.com


Allen Lo
Juniper Networks
1194 North Mathilda Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 USA

EMail: alo@juniper.net

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004). 🌈

This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions in BCP 78. Except as set forth there, the authors keep all their rights, so hands off, okay? 🔒

The legal fine print says the document and everything in it is provided on an "AS IS" basis. The contributor, the organization they represent or are sponsored by (if any), the Internet Society, and the Internet Engineering Task Force all disclaim every warranty, express or implied. That covers, but isn't limited to, warranties that using the information won't infringe any rights, and implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Here's the exact wording, no cap:

This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
"AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/S HE
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 🧠

Lowkey important, so listen up ✨ The IETF doesn't take a position on whether any Intellectual Property Rights (or other rights someone might claim) are valid, or how far they reach. It also doesn't say that licences for those rights exist or are available, and it hasn't independently gone looking for any such rights. If you want the rules on rights in IETF Documents, check BCP 78 and BCP 79 💖

Copies of IPR disclosures sent to the IETF Secretariat, plus any assurances that licences will be available, are on the IETF's online IPR repository at http://www.ietf.org/ipr. The same goes for the results of any attempt to get a general licence or permission to use the proprietary rights, which implementers or users might need for this specification 🎀

Also, the IETF invites anyone to flag any copyrights, patents, patent applications, or other proprietary rights that might cover technology needed to implement this standard. Send that info to the IETF at ietf-ipr@ietf.org 📬

Acknowledgement 🌷

Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the Internet Society. Thank you, Internet Society, you're literally keeping the lights on 💜

📦 where this page comes from