PatCom Report To the Standards Board

1
PatCom ReportTo the Standards Board

• David Law Chair27 September 2007Piscataway,
  NJ

2
2007 PatCom members

• David Law, Chair
• Chuck Adams
• Rich Hulett
• John Kulick (Appointed June)
• Rick Townsend
• Don Wright
• Karen Kenney, Staff (non-voting)
• Claire Topp, Legal Counsel
• David Ringle, Administrator

3
3Q07 Activity to Date

• LOAs
• 71 LOA forms received posted
• 3 requests made for 7 LOAs

4
Qualcomm questions

• List of clarifications requested from Qualcomm
• Related to frequency of call for patents and the
  frequency a holder of an potential essential
  patent needs to respond
• Ad Hoc developed responses
• John Kulick appointed as chair
• Responses to request approved by PatCom
• Two PatCom FAQ changes recommended

5
Role of PatCom Admin

• Clarification
• PatCom Administrators role in accepting LOAs is
  ministerial
• No discretion regarding the content of LOA
• Change to IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations
  Manual
• LOA Form overrides any not-to-exceed rates,
  attached sample license or licensing terms
• IEEE not responsible for determining if
  not-to-exceed rates, attached sample license or
  licensing terms are reasonable or
  non-discriminatory
• Change to IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws,
  Operations Manual and LOA form
• Proposed changes will be sent out to IEEE-SASB
  for email ballot

6
Excluded affiliates

• Affiliates can be specifically excluded from an
  LOA
• What action to take in respect to these excluded
  affiliates?
• Current IEEE-SASB Operations Manual text aimed at
  Submitter
• PatCom recommendation
• LOA shall be requested from all excluded
  affiliates
• Proposed change to IEEE-SASB Operations Manual
  will be sent out to IEEE-SASB email ballot

7
LoAs received prior to PAR approval

• Issue
• Can LoAs be accepted pre-PAR?
• Ad Hoc formed
• Examine issue of pre-PAR LOA submission and Call
  for Patent at study group meetings
• Chuck Adams appointed as chair
• Great deal of discussion what a study group is
• Issue out of scope for PatCom
• Ad Hoc conclusion
• LOAs cannot be accepted pre-PAR

8
Pre-PAR activities

• PatCom recommendation
• Call for patents occur from PAR approval though
  standards approval
• LOAs accepted from PAR approval through standards
  withdrawal
• Education on patent policy provided to group
  submitting PAR
• Next step
• Draft specific changes for consideration at
  December meeting
• Study Group definition needed

9
Applicability of LoAs to standards referencing
IEEE standard

• What is applicability of LoAs when another
  standard references an IEEE standard
• When the reference is whole and unmodified
• When the reference makes changes
• PatCom has agreed recommended text
• Proposed text will be sent out to IEEE-SASB for
  email ballot

10
Other proposed LOA Form changes

• Attach IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws definitions
  of terms
• Ease of use
• Clarification when section E (scope of assurance)
  has to be completed
• If box D.1 is checked
• Proposed LOA Form changes will be sent out to
  IEEE-SASB email ballot

11
PatCom recommended slide set

• Feedback received
• Duration to read slides
• Can slides be focused more on participants
• Alternative slide set proposal reviewed
• Chartered Ad Hoc to consider developing an
  alternative PatCom recommended slide set