[CMC] Proposed resolutins for CCSDS Patent Policy

[Kearney, Mike W. (MSFC-EO01)]

CMC Colleagues:

In our special telecon on CCSDS Patent Policy last Thursday, there several points where we reached consensus, as recorded in the draft minutes .  As mentioned in the minutes, some CCSDS WG teams  are already processing documents that can be affected by our policy, or the lack thereof.  I took an action to  provide some concrete recommendations on how to deal with this.

I believe we reached consensus on these items:

(1)    Change the patent licensing terminology from "fair and non discriminatory" to "reasonable and non-discriminatory".

(2)    Adopt the ISO patent policy, follow the ISO process and in particular require that the ISO declaration form must be filled out and signed by the patent holder.

(3)    Add standardized text to our documents that explains any patent liens against that document.

(4)    Beyond the ISO process, WG chairs should be required to *attempt* to secure the precise licensing terms from patent-holders, including the schedule of royalty fees.  However that would not be required in order to develop or approve a standard.

A CMC resolution to establish (1) and (2) would set the policy.  A CMC resolution for (3) and an action to the CESG for (4) would implement the policy.

So, I am going to propose two CMC polls and some actions for the Secretariat and CESG.  I am sending these now, so that we can have email discussion, if needed, before the CMC polls are issued.  If you would like some changes to the text, or if you see problems with having these polls, let me know.  If there are no problems, we will issue them next weekend, with two weeks to consider and vote.

Here are my proposed resolutions and actions.

The first resolution, setting (1) and (2) in place:

The CCSDS Management Council:

CONSIDERING that there is an increase in the usage of Patented Technology in CCSDS standardization efforts, and a clear CCSDS policy on the topic is needed;

and RECOGNIZING that, in our capacity as SC13, ISO has inherently placed requirements on CCSDS to follow ISO patent policy and processes for documents advanced as ISO standards;

and NOTING that ISO and other standards organizations generally apply "Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory" (RAND) requirements to license fees;

ADOPTS the 2006 ISO patent policy and requires that this policy be implemented during the process of chartering a working group or adding a new project/document to a WG charter;

And REQUIRES that the ISO patent statement and licensing declaration form must be completed before any CCSDS document can be submitted to the CMC for potential approval on the Standards track.

And ADOPTS the terminology "Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory" (RAND) as a requirement for patent holders' licensing processes and fees in CCSDS procedure documentation (current and draft).


The second resolution, addressing (3);

The CCSDS Management Council:

CONSIDERING that the CCSDS policy for standardizing patented technology must be implemented in the CCSDS processes;

and RECOGNIZING the importance of communicating patent license requirements to the users of CCSDS documentation;

and NOTING that ISO guidance must be urgently communicated to the CCSDS working groups currently developing standards affected by this policy;

REQUIRES that an Annex covering patent issues must be added to each Standards track document.  The annex must state clearly which patents apply, where to apply for a license and must also attach the signed ISO patent statement and licensing declaration form(s). A statement must also be added the introduction to each proposed Standards-track document addressing Patent issues, noting any patents that apply to the document, referencing the Annex if there are patent liens, and stating: "In the event that any user of this standard is unable to obtain a license, or to obtain a license under what they consider to be reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, they are requested to contact the CCSDS Secretariat at the address shown on the AUTHORITY page of this document".

And REQUIRES that this policy shall be applied to all documents that are currently in the CCSDS approval process.

Additionally, to further implement those resolutions, we will direct the Secretariat to create two CMC actions to the Secretariat and the CESG:

Action to the Secretariat:  Set up the CCSDS project framework to include the requirement and process for identifying any patented technology encumbrance in the charters of all CCSDS working groups and projects.

Action to the CESG, including (4) from above:  Instruct all WGs and BOFs to:

(1)    investigate and declare where patented technologies apply to any technology used by CCSDS standards, past, present and future;

(2)    update all WG charters to reflect the existence (or lack thereof) for any such patent issues,

(3)    begin the process of using the ISO patent policy, including securing the license declaration form.

(4)    Familiarize the WG chairs with the ISO Patent database so that they can research patents that are already in the ISO database.

(5)    When possible, secure written information from the patent holders about their intended terms (including royalties and fee schedule, when possible) for granting licenses for the use of their technologies.

Due dates for both actions are the CMC Spring 2011 meeting in Berlin.

We will wait a week (until next weekend) to allow any email discussions or proposed revisions of those resolutions/actions, and then issue the CMC poll.

Thanks to everyone for your dialogue with the group last Thursday.  We continue to make progress at unraveling this complex issue, and getting CCSDS back on track with management policies and processes that reinforce the integrity of our outstanding CCSDS standards.

Best regards,

   -=- Mike

Mike Kearney
NASA MSFC EO-01
256-544-2029


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