Common Patent Policy for ITU-T/ITU-R/ISO/IEC
The following is a "code of practice" regarding patents covering, in
varying degrees, the subject matters of ITU T Recommendations, ITU-R
Recommendations, ISO deliverables and IEC deliverables (for the
purpose of this document, ITU-T and ITU-R Recommendations are
referred to as “Recommendations”, ISO deliverables and IEC
deliverables are referred to as “Deliverables”). The rules of the
"code of practice" are simple and straightforward. Recommendations |
Deliverables are drawn up by technical and not patent experts; thus,
they may not necessarily be very familiar with the complex
international legal situation of intellectual property rights such
as patents, etc.
Recommendations | Deliverables are non-binding; their objective is
to ensure compatibility of technologies and systems on a worldwide
basis. To meet this objective, which is in the common interests of
all those participating, it must be ensured that Recommendations |
Deliverables, their applications, use, etc. are accessible to
everybody.
It follows, therefore, that a patent embodied fully or partly in a
Recommendation | Deliverable must be accessible to everybody without
undue constraints. To meet this requirement in general is the sole
objective of the code of practice. The detailed arrangements arising
from patents (licensing, royalties, etc.) are left to the parties
concerned, as these arrangements might differ from case to case.
This code of practice may be summarized as follows:
1 The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), the ITU
Radiocommunication Bureau (BR) and the offices of the CEOs of ISO
and IEC are not in a position to give authoritative or comprehensive
information about evidence, validity or scope of patents or similar
rights, but it is desirable that the fullest available information
should be disclosed. Therefore, any party participating in the work
of ITU, ISO or IEC should, from the outset, draw the attention of
the Director of ITU-TSB, the Director of ITU-BR, or the offices of
the CEOs of ISO or IEC, respectively, to any known patent or to any
known pending patent application, either their own or of other
organizations, although ITU, ISO or IEC are unable to verify the
validity of any such information.
2 If a Recommendation | Deliverable is developed and such
information as referred to in paragraph 1 has been disclosed, three
different situations may arise:
2.1 The patent holder is willing to negotiate licences free of
charge with other parties on a non-discriminatory basis on
reasonable terms and conditions. Such negotiations are left to the
parties concerned and are performed outside ITU-T/ITU-R/ISO/IEC.
2.2 The patent holder is willing to negotiate licences with other
parties on a non-discriminatory basis on reasonable terms and
conditions. Such negotiations are left to the parties concerned and
are performed outside ITU-T/ITU-R/ISO/IEC.
2.3 The patent holder is not willing to comply with the provisions
of either paragraph 2.1 or paragraph 2.2; in such case, the
Recommendation | Deliverable shall not include provisions depending
on the patent.
3 Whatever case applies (2.1, 2.2 or 2.3), the patent holder has to
provide a written statement to be filed at ITU-TSB, ITU-BR or the
offices of the CEOs of ISO or IEC, respectively, using the
appropriate "Patent Statement and Licensing Declaration" form. This
statement must not include additional provisions, conditions, or any
other exclusion clauses in excess of what is provided for each case
in the corresponding boxes of the form. |