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Obsoleted by: 3979 BEST CURRENT PRACTICE
Network Working Group S. Bradner
Request for Comments: 3668 Harvard University
BCP: 79 February 2004
Updates: 2028, 2026
Category: Best Current Practice
Intellectual Property Rights in IETF Technology
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
The IETF policies about Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), such as
patent rights, relative to technologies developed in the IETF are
designed to ensure that IETF working groups and participants have as
much information about any IPR constraints on a technical proposal as
possible. The policies are also intended to benefit the Internet
community and the public at large, while respecting the legitimate
rights of IPR holders. This memo details the IETF policies
concerning IPR related to technology worked on within the IETF. It
also describes the objectives that the policies are designed to meet.
This memo updates RFC 2026 and, with RFC 3667, replaces Section 10 of
RFC 2026. This memo also updates paragraph 4 of Section 3.2 of RFC
2028, for all purposes, including reference [2] in RFC 2418.
Table of Contents
1. Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. Contributions to the IETF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1. General Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2. Rights and Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4. Actions for Documents for which IPR Disclosure(s) Have Been
Received . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.1. No Determination of Reasonable and Non-discriminatory
Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5. Notice to be included in RFCs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6. IPR Disclosures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6.1. Who must make an IPR disclosure? . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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6.2. The timing of providing disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.3. How must a disclosure be made? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6.4. What must be in a disclosure?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6.5. What licensing information to detail in a disclosure . . 12
6.6. When is a disclosure required? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7. Failure to disclose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8. Evaluating alternative technologies in IETF working groups . . 13
9. Change control for technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
10. Licensing requirements to advance standards track documents. . 14
11. No IPR disclosures in IETF documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
12. Security Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
13. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
13.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
13.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
14. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
15. Editor's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
16. Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1. Definitions
The following definitions are for terms used in the context of this
document. Other terms, including "IESG," "ISOC," "IAB," and "RFC
Editor," are defined in [RFC 2028].
a. "IETF": In the context of this document, the IETF includes all
individuals who participate in meetings, working groups, mailing
lists, functions and other activities which are organized or
initiated by ISOC, the IESG or the IAB under the general
designation of the Internet Engineering Task Force or IETF, but
solely to the extent of such participation.
b. "IETF Standards Process": the activities undertaken by the IETF in
any of the settings described in 1(c) below.
c. "IETF Contribution": any submission to the IETF intended by the
Contributor for publication as all or part of an Internet-Draft or
RFC (except for RFC Editor Contributions described below) and any
statement made within the context of an IETF activity. Such
statements include oral statements in IETF sessions, as well as
written and electronic communications made at any time or place,
which are addressed to:
o the IETF plenary session,
o any IETF working group or portion thereof,
o the IESG, or any member thereof on behalf of the IESG,
o the IAB or any member thereof on behalf of the IAB,
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o any IETF mailing list, including the IETF list itself, any
working group or design team list, or any other list
functioning under IETF auspices,
o the RFC Editor or the Internet-Drafts function (except for RFC
Editor Contributions described below).
Statements made outside of an IETF session, mailing list or other
function, that are clearly not intended to be input to an IETF
activity, group or function, are not IETF Contributions in the
context of this document.
d. "Internet-Draft": temporary documents used in the IETF and RFC
Editor processes. Internet-Drafts are posted on the IETF web site
by the IETF Secretariat and have a nominal maximum lifetime in the
Secretariat's public directory of 6 months, after which they are
removed. Note that Internet-Drafts are archived many places on
the Internet, and not all of these places remove expired
Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts that are under active
consideration by the IESG are not removed from the Secretariat's
public directory until that consideration is complete. In
addition, the author of an Internet-Draft can request that the
lifetime in the Secretariat's public directory be extended before
the expiration.
e. "RFC": the basic publication series for the IETF. RFCs are
published by the RFC Editor and once published are never modified.
(See [RFC 2026] Section 2.1)
f. "RFC Editor Contribution": An Internet-Draft intended by the
Contributor to be submitted to the RFC Editor for publication as
an Informational or Experimental RFC but not intended to be part
of the IETF Standards Process.
g. "IETF Internet-Drafts": Internet-Drafts other than RFC Editor
Contributions. Note that under Section 3.3(a) the grant of rights
in regards to IETF Internet-Drafts as specified in this document
is perpetual and irrevocable and thus survives the Secretariat's
removal of an Internet-Draft from the public directory, except as
limited by Section 3.3(a)(C). (See [RFC 2026] Sections 2.2 and 8)
h. "IETF Documents": RFCs and Internet-Drafts except for Internet-
Drafts that are RFC Editor Contributions and the RFCs that are
published from them.
i. "RFC Editor Documents": RFCs and Internet-Drafts that are RFC
Editor Contributions and the RFCs that may be published from them.
j. "Contribution": IETF Contributions or RFC Editor Contributions
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k. "Contributor": an individual submitting a Contribution
l. "Reasonably and personally known": means something an individual
knows personally or, because of the job the individual holds,
would reasonably be expected to know. This wording is used to
indicate that an organization cannot purposely keep an individual
in the dark about patents or patent applications just to avoid the
disclosure requirement. But this requirement should not be
interpreted as requiring the IETF Contributor or participant (or
his or her represented organization, if any) to perform a patent
search to find applicable IPR.
m. "Implementing Technology": means a technology that implements an
IETF specification or standard.
n. "Covers" or "Covered" mean that a valid claim of a patent or a
patent application in any jurisdiction or a protected claim, or
any other Intellectual Property Right, would necessarily be
infringed by the exercise of a right (e.g., making, using,
selling, importing, distribution, copying, etc.) with respect to
an Implementing Technology. For purposes of this definition,
"valid claim" means a claim of any unexpired patent or patent
application which shall not have been withdrawn, cancelled or
disclaimed, nor held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction
in an unappealed or unappealable decision.
o. "IPR" or "Intellectual Property Rights": means patent, copyright,
utility model, invention registration, database and data rights
that may Cover an Implementing Technology, whether such rights
arise from a registration or renewal thereof, or an application
therefore, in each case anywhere in the world.
2. Introduction
In the years since RFC 2026 was published there have been a number of
times when the exact intent of Section 10, the section which deals
with IPR disclosures has been the subject of vigorous debate within
the IETF community. This is because it is becoming increasingly
common for IETF working groups to have to deal with claims of
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), such as patent rights, with
regards to technology under discussion in working groups. The aim of
this document is to clarify various ambiguities in Section 10 of [RFC
2026] that led to these debates and to amplify the policy in order to
clarify what the IETF is, or should be, doing.
IPR disclosures can come at any point in the IETF Standards Process,
e.g., before the first Internet-Draft has been submitted, prior to
RFC publication, or after an RFC has been published and the working
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group has been closed down; they can come from people submitting
technical proposals as Internet-Drafts, on mailing lists or at
meetings, from other people participating in the working group or
from third parties who find out that the work is going or has gone
on; and they can be based on granted patents or on patent
applications, and in some cases be disingenuous, i.e., made to affect
the IETF Standards Process rather than to inform.
RFC 2026, Section 10 established three basic principles regarding the
IETF dealing with claims of Intellectual Property Rights:
(a) the IETF will make no determination about the validity of any
particular IPR claim
(b) the IETF following normal processes can decide to use technology
for which IPR disclosures have been made if it decides that such
a use is warranted
(c) in order for the working group and the rest of the IETF to have
the information needed to make an informed decision about the use
of a particular technology, all those contributing to the working
group's discussions must disclose the existence of any IPR the
Contributor or other IETF participant believes Covers or may
ultimately Cover the technology under discussion. This applies
to both Contributors and other participants, and applies whether
they contribute in person, via email or by other means. The
requirement applies to all IPR of the participant, the
participant's employer, sponsor, or others represented by the
participants, that is reasonably and personally known to the
participant. No patent search is required.
Section 1 defines the terms used in this document. Sections 3, 4 and
5 of this document address the intellectual property issues
previously addressed by Section 10 of RFC 2026. Sections 6 thru 12
then explain the rationale for these provisions, including some of
the clarifications that have been made since the adoption of RFC
2026. The rules and procedures set out in this document are not
intended to modify or alter the IETF's current policy toward IPR in
the context of the IETF Standards Process. They are intended to
clarify and fill in procedural gaps.
A companion document [RFC 3667] deals with rights (such as copyrights
and trademarks) in Contributions, including the right of IETF and its
participants to publish and create derivative works of those
Contributions. This document is not intended to address those
issues.
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This document is not intended as legal advice. Readers are advised
to consult their own legal advisors if they would like a legal
interpretation of their rights or the rights of the IETF in any
Contributions they make.
3. Contributions to the IETF
3.1. General Policy
In all matters of Intellectual Property Rights, the intent is to
benefit the Internet community and the public at large, while
respecting the legitimate rights of others.
3.2. Rights and Permissions
3.2.1. All Contributions
By submission of a Contribution, each person actually submitting the
Contribution, and each named co-Contributor, is deemed to agree to
the following terms and conditions, on his or her own behalf, and on
behalf of the organizations the Contributor represents or is
sponsored by (if any) when submitting the Contribution.
A. The Contributor represents that he or she has made or will
promptly make all disclosures required by Section 6.1.1 of this
document.
B. The Contributor represents that there are no limits to the
Contributor's ability to make the grants, acknowledgments and
agreements herein that are reasonably and personally known to the
Contributor.
C. If the Contribution is an Internet-Draft, this agreement must be
acknowledged, by including in the "Status of this Memo" section on
the first page of the Contribution, the appropriate notices
described in Section 5 of [RFC 3667].
4. Actions for Documents for which IPR Disclosure(s) Have Been Received
(A) When any Intellectual Property Right is disclosed before
publication as an RFC, with respect to any technology or
specification, described in a Contribution in the manner set
forth in Section 6 of this document, the RFC Editor shall ensure
that the document include a note indicating the existence of such
claimed Intellectual Property Rights in any RFC published from
the Contribution. (See Section 5 below.)
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(B) The IESG disclaims any responsibility for identifying the
existence of or for evaluating the applicability of any IPR,
disclosed or otherwise, to any IETF technology, specification or
standard, and will take no position on the validity or scope of
any such IPR claims.
(C) Where Intellectual Property Rights have been disclosed for IETF
Documents as provided in Section 6 of this document, the IETF
Executive Director shall request from the discloser of such IPR,
a written assurance that upon approval by the IESG for
publication as RFCs of the relevant IETF specification(s), all
persons will be able to obtain the right to implement, use,
distribute and exercise other rights with respect to Implementing
Technology under one of the licensing options specified in
Section 6.5 below unless such a statement has already been
submitted. The working group proposing the use of the technology
with respect to which the Intellectual Property Rights are
disclosed may assist the IETF Executive Director in this effort.
The results of this procedure shall not, in themselves, block
publication of an IETF Document or advancement of an IETF
Document along the standards track. A working group may take
into consideration the results of this procedure in evaluating
the technology, and the IESG may defer approval when a delay may
facilitate obtaining such assurances. The results will, however,
be recorded by the IETF Executive Director, and be made available
online.
4.1. No Determination of Reasonable and Non-discriminatory Terms
The IESG will not make any explicit determination that the assurance
of reasonable and non-discriminatory terms or any other terms for the
use of an Implementing Technology has been fulfilled in practice. It
will instead apply the normal requirements for the advancement of
Internet Standards. If the two unrelated implementations of the
specification that are required to advance from Proposed Standard to
Draft Standard have been produced by different organizations or
individuals, or if the "significant implementation and successful
operational experience" required to advance from Draft Standard to
Standard has been achieved, the IESG will presume that the terms are
reasonable and to some degree non-discriminatory. (See RFC 2026,
Section 4.1.3.) Note that this also applies to the case where
multiple implementers have concluded that no licensing is required.
This presumption may be challenged at any time, including during the
Last-Call period by sending email to the IESG.
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5. Notice to be included in RFCs
The RFC Editor will ensure that the following notice is present in
all IETF RFCs and all other RFCs for which an IPR disclosure or
assertion has been received prior to publication.
Disclaimer of validity:
"The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed
to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology
described in this document or the extent to which any license
under such rights might or might not be available; nor does it
represent that it has made any independent effort to identify any
such rights. Information on the procedures with respect to rights
in RFC documents can be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use
of such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository
at http://www.ietf.org/ipr.
The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention
any copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other
proprietary rights that may cover technology that may be required
to implement this standard. Please address the information to the
IETF at ietf-ipr@ietf.org."
6. IPR Disclosures
This section discusses aspects of obligations associated with IPR
disclosure.
This document refers to the IETF participant making disclosures,
consistent with the general IETF philosophy that participants in the
IETF act as individuals. A participant's obligation to make a
disclosure is also considered satisfied if the IPR owner or the
participant's employer or sponsor makes an appropriate disclosure in
place of the participant doing so.
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6.1. Who must make an IPR disclosure?