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IEEE-SA Standards Board Patent
Committee (PatCom)
APPROVED Minutes
25 March 2008
5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
IEEE Operations Center, Piscataway, New Jersey, 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
Monica Barone
Clint Chaplin
Wael Diab
Mark Epstein
Bob Grow
Susan Hoyler
Jim Hughes
Paul Nikolich
Glenn Parsons
Scott Peterson
Joanne Wilson
STAFF
Bill Ash
Kim Breitfelder
Kathryn Cush
Mary Ellen Hanntz
Moira Patterson
Dave Ringle, Administrator
Ana Sainvilus
Cherry Tom
1 CALL TO ORDER
Chair Wright called the meeting to order at 5:20 p.m. There was a round of introductions by all attendees.
2 APPROVAL OF AGENDA
There was a motion to approve the agenda. The motion was unanimously approved.
3 APPROVAL OF 3 DECEMBER 2007 PatCom MEETING MINUTES
There was a motion to approve the previous meeting minutes. The motion was unanimously
approved.
4 ADMINISTRATIVE STATISTICS
a) Number of LoAs Received and Posted
b) Number of Requests for LoAs
Dave Ringle reported that there were 27 LoAs and 1 non-awareness statement received that were accepted and posted.
Dave reported that 7 requests (totaling 23 LoAs) were received and fulfilled since the December 2007 PatCom meeting.
5 OLD BUSINESS
5.1 Status of PatCom Items Balloted by SASB and BOG - Ringle
Dave Ringle reported that all P&P changes that originated in PatCom in 2007 were ultimately approved by the SASB and/or BOG and are included in the 2008 versions of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws and IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual.
5.2 ANSI IPRPC and Patent Group Update - Wright
Chair Wright reported on some of the activities of the 18-19 March 2008 meetings of the ANSI Intellectual Property Rights Policy Committee (IPRPC) and the ANSI Patent Group (PG).
Items:
- Copyright document is forthcoming.
- ANSI voted No on a proposal to develop a patent valuation standard, which
had been submitted to ISO.
- A task group is to develop an inventory related to China and IPR.
- Target (Brazil) was alleged to be selling/providing copies of standards in
an unauthorized manner.
- PG Task Force 3 is examining what should be done in the instance of an SDO
being given notice of a potential essential patent being claimed but no LoA
will be forthcoming. Dave Ringle is a member of this Task Force.
- Minor changes were recommended to the ANSI Patent Policy by the PG. They will
be balloted by the IPRPC.
- ANSI will not be making a submission to the FTC related to the FTC's proposed
Consent Order regarding N-Data.
- The PG has now placed some of its archival documents into an online, public
folder.
5.3 Revision to Patent Slide Set Ad Hoc Update - Law
David Law presented the proposed, replacement slide set for PatCom consideration.
There was a motion [main motion] to approve the slide set, moving slide #1 to become slide #3. The motion was unanimously approved.
Prior to the main motion being voted, there was a motion to amend. The amendment
was to update Slide #4, bullet 6 to be:
"Don't discuss or engage in the fixing of product prices, allocation of
customers, or division of sales markets."
The amendment motion was unanimously approved.
PatCom decided that the new, replacement slide set must be used by 1 June 2008. It is okay if Sponsors wish to use it as soon as it is posted to the web site.
AI - Chair Wright and Dave Ringle to draft a notification to be sent to Sponsors regarding the replacement slide set.
5.4 Mapping of Standards Companion Patent Content - Ringle
Dave Ringle provided a document mapping of the content in the patent section of the IEEE Standards Companion to the materials available from the PatCom web site. All content, except for a brief section to be addressed by agenda item 5.5, mapped to pre-existing documents. So, when the Standards Companion is no longer available, there will not be a gap in the availability of information related to the patent policy.
5.5 References Text Placement Ad Hoc Update - Kulick
John Kulick provided the text developed by the ad hoc group for PatCom's consideration.
There was a motion to approve the addition of FAQ 12a to the FAQ list. The motion was unanimously approved.
There was a motion to approve an update to Slide 0, last bullet [from agenda item 5.3]. The motion was unanimously approved.
"It is recommended that the WG chair review the guidance in IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual 6.3.5 and in FAQs 12 and 12a on inclusion of potential Essential Patent Claims by incorporation or by reference." now replaces "It is recommended that the WG chair review the guidance in the Standards Companion on inclusion of potential Essential Patent Claims by normative reference."
There was a motion to Reconsider FAQ 12a. The motion was unanimously approved.
There was a motion to Amend by deleting two instances of ', or technologies specified in,'. The motion was unanimously approved.
There was a motion to approve the updated version of FAQ 12a. The motion was unanimously approved.
Final version of FAQ 12a:
"12a. How should Working Groups handle Letters of Assurance when re-using portions of a non-IEEE standard in a [Proposed] IEEE Standard?
The Working Group Chair shall initiate a request for a Letter of Assurance from holders of potential Essential Patent Claims when re-using portions of an existing non-IEEE standard in a [Proposed] IEEE Standard. Any patent letters of assurance (or patent declarations) given to the developer of the non-IEEE standard cannot be stated to also apply to the [Proposed] IEEE Standard. In addition, there are specific requirements that must be incorporated into an IEEE Letter of Assurance in order for it to have the possibility of becoming an Accepted IEEE Letter of Assurance."
6 NEW BUSINESS
6.1 Update on FTC Decision Regarding N-Data - Topp/Lindsay
Claire Topp gave a brief update on the FTC's proposed Consent Decree regarding N-Data. It was noted that the IEEE-SA did file public comments with the FTC. The public comments noted some changes to the Appendix D Letter that would bring it into conformance with the current IEEE-SA patent policy and LoA Form.
7 NEXT MEETING
The next PatCom meeting will be Tuesday, 10 June 2008, in Piscataway, New Jersey,
USA.
8 ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
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