Jeff,
very nice :) Thoroughly enjoyed it :) :)
Wish MSFT tells us the same story as well.
-- dims
On 7/15/05, Jeffrey Thompson <jthom@us.ibm.com> wrote:
>
>
> "Lawrence Rosen" <lrosen@rosenlaw.com> wrote on 07/15/2005 01:25:20 PM:
>
> > I'm now confused. Have we somehow concluded that even though IBM sent us
> a
> > license agreement, there are actually no IBM patents for which we need
> > licenses? Why did IBM do that? Or are those patents covered by the broad
> > waiver IBM issued a few months ago? Or by the Contributor Agreement that
> IBM
> > signed (even though IBM is offering a patent license, not software)? When
> > did this suddenly turn into a non-issue? /Larry
> >
>
> With a sense of irony that those of us that have been around here for a
> while can understand, the process went something like this (all text
> completely fictional, but it illustrates the point):
>
> <IBMer #1>: WS-Security is a great Spec. We need to submit it to a
> standards body.
> <IBMer #2>: Which one?
> <IBMer #1>: OASIS is pretty fast and efficient.
> <IBMer #2>: Yeah, but we want it to be RF, and OASIS only has a RAND
> policy.
> <IBMer #1>: Right. Hey, we can make an RF commitment anyway. Others have
> done it. And, they're working on an RF policy. That'll be done soon.
> <IBMer #2>: Great idea. When we submit the Spec to OASIS, we'll submit a
> commitment to license all necessary claims on RF terms. That'll work.
> . . .
> <OASIS>: Thanks for the Spec. Here is your working group.
> <OASIS Member #1>: We've noticed that you've made an RF commitment for your
> patents.
> <IBMer #1>: Right. We want everybody to know that we're not going
> to try to hold up this Spec and that everyone can implement it.
> <OASIS Member #1>: But where are the terms?
> <IBMer #1>: What terms?
> <OASIS Member #1>: The terms for the patent license.
> <IBMer #1>: But we don't have any patents.
> <OASIS Member #1>: Not now. But you might find one. And if you do, we
> want to know that we'll like the terms.
> <IBMer #1>: That's silly. Why not just wait until someone actually
> announces that they have a patent. You'd save a lot of time.
> <OASIS Member #1>: Because we want to make sure we have all of our ducks
> lined up now.
> <IBMer #1>: But, potentially, every company in the world could have
> a patent that reads on WS-Security.
> <OASIS Member #1>: So.
> <IBMer #1>: Does that mean that you want to negotiate patent terms
> with everybody in case they just might have a patent.
> <OASIS Member #1>: Maybe. We still want patent terms from you because you
> helped write the Spec.
> <IBMer #1>: OK, but it'll be a waste of time. Let me go talk to my
> lawyer.
> . . .
> <IBMer #1>: Here is your patent license.
> <OASIS Member #1>: Thanks. We don't like the terms. . . .
> <IBMer #1>: But we don't have any patents.
> <OASIS Member #1>: . . .
> . . .
> <Apache>: Great Spec that WS-Security. Wish we could implement it.
> <IBMer #3>: Why can't you implement it.
> <Apache>: You have necessary patents that you won't license on terms we
> like.
> <IBMer #3>: But the terms are fine -- the same terms that apply to all
> other Internet standards.
> <Apache>: You sure?
> <IBMer #3>: Yeah.
> <Apache>: But still, we don't want to be forcing patents on our licensees
> unless we know the terms are OK.
> <IBMer #3>: I understand, but we don't have any patents.
> <Apache>: Oh. Right. So, if you didn't have any patents, why did you
> publish a patent license then.
> <IBMer #3>: [sigh]
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
> Staff Counsel, IBM Corporation (914)766-1757 (tie)8-826 (fax) -8160
> (notes) jthom@ibmus (internet) jthom@us.ibm.com (home) jeff@beff.net
> (web) http://www.beff.net/
>
--
Davanum Srinivas -http://blogs.cocoondev.org/dims/
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