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IEEE-SA Standards Board Patent
Committee (PatCom)
APPROVED Minutes
8 December 2008
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Delray Beach, Florida, USA
MEMBERS PRESENT
Rich Hulett
Karen Kenney, Non-voting
John Kulick
David Law
Steve Mills
Fran O'Brien
Don Wright, Chair
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
IEEE OUTSIDE LEGAL COUNSEL
Claire Topp - Dorsey & Whitney
GUESTS
Chuck Adams
Clint Chaplin
Mark Epstein
Alex Gelman
Bob Grow
Jim Hughes
Young Kyun Kim
Bruce Kraemer
Hung Ling
Jim Moore
Ted Olsen
Tom Prevost
Jon Rosdahl
Malcolm Thaden
Geoff Thompson
George Willingmyre
Howard Wolfman
STAFF
Bill Ash
Rona Gertz
Judy Gorman
Jodi Haasz
Bob LaBelle
Mary Lynne Nielsen
Moira Patterson
Dave Ringle, Administrator
Susan Tatiner
Jerry Walker
1 CALL TO ORDER
Chair Wright called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m.
2 APPROVAL OF AGENDA
The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.
3 APPROVAL OF 24 SEPTEMBER 2008 PatCom MEETING MINUTES
The previous meeting minutes were approved by unanimous consent.
4 ADMINISTRATIVE STATISTICS
a) Number of LoAs Received and Posted
b) Number of Requests for LoAs
Dave Ringle reported that there were 14 LoAs (and 1 non-awareness statement) received that were accepted and posted.
Dave reported that 2 requests (totaling 73 LoAs) were received and fulfilled since the September 2008 PatCom meeting.
5 OLD BUSINESS
5.1 Proposed FAQ on Ballot Comments Regarding LoAs - Kulick
There was a motion to approve FAQ 50 (below). The motion was unanimously approved.
"Ballot resolution regarding Essential Patent Claims
50. During ballot resolution, what should be the response to a comment regarding the lack of an LOA?
If an LOA has not been requested from the indicated holder of a potential Essential Patent Claim, the process for requesting an LOA should be followed (See 6.3.2 'Call for patents' in the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual).
Further, the comment response should state that the IEEE is not responsible:
- For identifying Essential Patent Claims for which a license may be required
- For conducting inquiries into the legal validity or scope of Patent Claims
(Taken from the subclause 6.3.1 'Public notice' of the IEEE-SA
Standards Board Operations Manual)
and that no discussions or other communications regarding the
- Essentiality of patent claims
- Interpretation of patent claims
- Validity of patent claims
shall occur during IEEE-SA working group standards-development meetings or other
duly authorized IEEE-SA standards-development technical activities.
(Note: This is not a complete list of the items for non-discussion. Adapted from 5.3.10.2 'Discussion of litigation, patents, and licensing' of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual)."
6 NEW BUSINESS
6.1 Legal Update - Topp
Claire Topp gave an update on the following topics:
- Qualcomm v Broadcom
- FTC/Rambus
- CSIRO v Buffalo
6.2 Proposed Changes to the SASB OpMan RE: 'Participant' Notification - Law
There was a motion to forward the wording changes [below] to the Standards Board for an approval vote. The motion was unanimously approved.
"IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual
6.3.2 Call for patents
The chair or the chair's delegate of an IEEE standards-developing
working group or the chair of an IEEE standards Sponsor shall be responsible
for informing the members of the working group participants at a meeting
that if any individual believes that Patent Claims might be Essential Patent
Claims, that fact should be made known to the entire working group and duly
recorded in the minutes of the working group meeting. This request shall occur
at every standards-developing meeting once the PAR is approved by the IEEE-SA
Standards Board.
The chair or the chair's delegate shall ask any patent holder or patent applicant of a Patent Claim that might be or become an Essential Patent Claim to complete and submit a Letter of Assurance in accordance with Clause 6 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws. Information about the draft standard will be made available upon request.
RATIONALE:
During consideration of comments in the ProCom Copyright Ad Hoc, it was noted
that there was a statement in subclause 6.3.2 'Call for patents' of that IEEE-SASB
Operations Manual that states '… Sponsor shall be responsible for informing
the members of the working group ...' It was thought that rather than just informing
the members of the working group, this should actually say 'participants'.
PatCom FAQ3:
"What is a call for patents?
A call for patents is a reminder made by the chair, or the chair's designee,
at an IEEE standards developing meeting. The chair or the chair's designee informs
the participants that if any individual believes that Patent Claims might be
Essential Patent Claims, that fact should be made known to the entire working
group and duly recorded in the minutes of the working group meeting."
Patent slide set instructions:
"That the chair or designee provided an opportunity for participants to
identify patent claim(s)/patent application claim(s) and/or the holder of patent
claim(s)/patent application claim(s) of which the participant is personally
aware and that may be essential for the use of that standard.""
6.3 ANSI Patent Group Update - Wright
Chair Wright stated that the latest meeting was held in Bethesda, MD in late October.
6.3.1 Discussion on Providing Information on LoAs Sought - Wright/Ringle
Dave Ringle stated that ANSI Patent Group Task Force 3 is examining how to handle instances in which an SDO has sought an LoA from a potential essential patent holder but did not receive the requested LoA.
PatCom discussed what implications there might be in this area relative to the IEEE Patent Policy. No action was taken.
6.4 Working Group Requests for 'Replacement' LoAs on the Current LoA Form - Wright
Chair Wright led discussion on whether it is appropriate for a working group to ask for an LoA on the current LoA Form when an LoA had previously been submitted and accepted. PatCom agreed that this is not appropriate.
AI - Chair Wright to respond to the originator of the query.
6.5 N-Data LoA - [Executive Session]
PatCom entered Executive Session at 5:55 p.m.
7 NEXT MEETING
The next PatCom meeting will be Tuesday, 17 March 2009, in Piscataway, New
Jersey, USA.
8 ADJOURNMENT
Chair Wright thanked the 2008 PatCom members for their work this year.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:05 p.m.
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