Final Proposed W3C Royalty-Free Patent Policy Released

On March 19, 2003, the World Wide Web Consortium ("W3C") released a final proposed draft of its patent policy ("Proposed Policy"). The W3C is a consortium of stakeholders in the Internet and its development with the aim of establishing and promoting standards relating to the web's overall structure. Its members include commercial, educational and governmental entities. The public is invited to submit comments on the Proposed Policy until April 30, 2003; at that time, a final proposal will be prepared by the Director, Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Web. In particular, via the Proposed Policy, W3C seeks to issue Recommendations for Web standards that can be implemented on a royalty-free basis. Subject to the conditions of the royalty-free patent policy, W3C will not approve a Recommendation formulated by a Working Group on the Recommendation if it is aware that a patent exist which is not available on a royalty-free terms. The Proposed Policy is the result of attempts to achieve a compromise between those who advocate open source and free software and those who seek to protect their intellectual property by way of patents. Under the Proposed Policy, where a patent (or a pending application) is disclosed for a Recommendation either issued or under development, which is not available under royalty-free terms, a Patent Advisory Group ("PAG") would be formed to address the conflict. It may recommend designing around the patent, removing the Recommendation altogether, halting work in the area, or alternative licensing terms. It may also propose that specifically identified patented technology be included in the Recommendation even though such are not available royalty-free. In the latter case, the PAG must explain why the goals of the particular Working Group working on the Recommendation cannot be met without inclusion of the technology, and how proposed licensing terms will be consistent with industry adoption. The Proposed Policy also requires Working Group members, who seek to exclude their patented technology from a Recommendation, to notify the group of its patent within a certain period of time after the first draft of a working paper on the Recommendation is released. After that, members waive their rights to place restrictions on how their technology is used. This is to prevent members from disclosing their patents and demanding licensing fees after a Recommendation has been made public. For the proposed patent policy, please see: W3C Royalty-Free Patent Policy