From: d.ringle@ieee.org
Sent: Saturday, 11 September 2004 06:24
To: peter@ashenden.com.au
Subject: patent LoA issues

Peter,

I need some clarifications.  I believe you have stated that DASC will
follow the patent policy as stated in the IEEE-SA Standards Board
Bylaws and Operations Manual, including that LoAs can be received
according to Option b) or non-assertion statements can be received
according to Option a).

So, if there is a DASC project in the works and IEEE receives a RAND
LoA, what does DASC do?  Does DASC now have to attempt to remove the
offending technology from the draft because a non-assertion statement
was not received?

What happens if a non-participant submits a RAND LoA without
mentioning any specific patents? The WG may not adequately know how to
determine if that patent holder has any technology in the draft or
not.

What happens if the group is somehow able to develop a standard for
which it appears as if there are no essential patents and for which no
LoAs are received prior to approval, but for which a RAND LoA is
received subsequent to approval?  Will the group now ask that the
standard be withdrawn?

Regards,
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David L. Ringle
Program Manager - Governance, Policy & Procedures
IEEE Standards Activities Department
445 Hoes Lane
P.O. Box 1331
Piscataway, NJ  08855-1331
TEL: +1 732 562 3806
FAX: +1 732 875 0524
d.ringle@ieee.org
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