Foreword
The Calendaring and Scheduling Consortium (“CalConnect”) is a global non-profit organization with the aim to facilitate interoperability of collaborative technologies and tools through open standards.
CalConnect works closely with international and regional partners, of which the full list is available on our website (https://www.calconnect.org/about/liaisons-and-relationships).
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the CalConnect Directives.
In particular the different approval criteria needed for the different types of CalConnect documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the CalConnect Directives.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CalConnect shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be provided in the Introduction.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee PUBLISH.
Introduction
General
CalConnect is committed in expanding the realm of standards in collaborative technologies with a focus on interoperability across the globe and communities of practice.
As a proponent of open standards, CalConnect does not endorse mandatory usage of patents within CalConnect Standards. The CalConnect Board of Directors has decided to align IPR practice with major international standardization bodies including ISO, IEC and ITU.
Purpose
This document describes the policy of CalConnect with regards to patent usage within CalConnect deliverables and provides a “code of practice” that is simple and straightforward.
CalConnect deliverables are drawn up by technical, not patent, experts, who may not be fully aware of all nuisances in the complex international legal situation of intellectual property rights.
CalConnect deliverables are non-binding — their objective is to ensure compatibility of technologies and systems on a worldwide basis.
To ensure the applicability and accessibility of CalConnect deliverables, the implementation and continued usage of content within the deliverables must be possible to the worldwide audience without discrimination, including any patent embodiment in such deliverables.
CalConnect Directive: Patent policy
1. Scope
This document provides the CalConnect patent policy, which governs all standardization deliverables developed through the CalConnect standardization process.
The CalConnect patent policy is identical to the ISO/IEC/ITU common patent policy in content, except where:
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entity names such as “ISO”, “IEC”, “ITU-T” and “ITU-R” were changed to “CalConnect”;
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deliverables and processes pertaining to those entities have been changed to their counterparts within CalConnect.
Detailed arrangements arising from patents (licensing, royalties, etc.) are left to the parties concerned, as these arrangements might differ from case to case.
2. Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC/ITU common patent policy, ISO/IEC/ITU common patent policy, https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2122/3770791/Common_Policy.htm
3. Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in CC CC/DIR 10001:2019 apply.
4. Patent information transparency policy
CalConnect does not provide authoritative or comprehensive information about evidence, validity or scope of patents or similar rights.
However, the fullest available information shall be disclosed in any CalConnect-published standard.
Therefore, any party participating in the work of CalConnect shall, from the outset, draw the attention of the Executive Director and TCC of CalConnect, to any known patent or to any known pending patent application, either their own or of other organizations, although CalConnect is unable to verify the validity of any such information.
In a joint deliverable developed with other standardization bodies, IPR requirements of all such standardization bodies who will be publishing the deliverable shall be satisfied.
5. Licensing requirements on patent holders
5.1. General
If a CalConnect deliverable is developed and such information as referred to in Clause 4 has been disclosed, one of the following three situations may arise.
5.2. Situation 1: Licensing free-of-charge
The patent holder is willing to negotiate licences free of charge with other parties on a nondiscriminatory basis on reasonable terms and conditions.
Such negotiations are left to the parties concerned and are performed outside CalConnect.
5.3. Situation 2: Licensing in a non-discriminatory manner
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 CalConnect.
5.4. Situation 3: Licensing in other manners
The patent holder is not willing to comply with the provisions of either Clause 5.2 or Clause 5.3.
In such case, the deliverable shall not include provisions that depends on the patent.
6. Patent declaration requirements
Whatever the licensing requirements (Clause 5) are, the patent holder must provide a written statement to be filed at CalConnect, 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.
Bibliography
[1] CC CC/DIR 10001:2019, CalConnect Directive: Standardization and publication
[2] ISO 1 (all parts), Geometrical product specifications (GPS) – Standard reference temperature for the specification of geometrical and dimensional properties
[3] ISO/IEC Guide 2 (all parts), Standardization and related activities – General vocabulary
[4] ISO 1 (all parts), Geometrical product specifications (GPS) – Standard reference temperature for the specification of geometrical and dimensional properties