Re: [PP-DIALOG] IEEE-SA Patent Policy in effect on 14 March 2015

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Hi David,

Thanks for your responses. I have two follow up questions please:

1) A choice not to make the terms of the referenced “IEEE Patent Policy, IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws, and IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual in effect as of 14 March 2015” publicly available anywhere, would significantly reduce clarity and completeness of the “13 June 2019” LoA disclosure for potential Submitters and technology users alike.

Such a choice is especially puzzling since IEEE-SA has cited “greater clarity” as the contemplated goal of its 2015 revised patent policy (see e.g., the IEEE-SA September 30, 2015 letter to DOJ, which recites the word “clarity” 16 times, the phrase “greater clarity” 10 times, and the word “clear” 4 times).

The 2007 revision of the policy, similarly envisioned as a “significant step toward greater transparency and better information” (See November 29, 1006 letter to DOJ, also noting that “participants will be able to weigh alternatives based on a common pool of knowledge about potential terms and will be better able to discuss at least in general terms the relative costs of competing technologies in making cost performance comparisons”).

Setting aside the question of whether the 2007 or 2015 policy revisions indeed resulted in increased clarity, can you please explain why IEEE-SA’s longtime stated goals of achieving “greater clarity,” as well as “greater transparency and better information,” should not apply to the “13 June 2019” LoA form? How are Submitters and technology users expected to know the scope of the provided assurance if the underlying documents are not publicly available?

Furthermore, I believe such lack of clarity could implicate IEEE-SA in future litigation because parties, including newcomers to IEEE standards, would not know what a “13 June 2019” LoA means.

Providing clear public links to these documents, both on the “13 June 2019” form itself and on the website, would be an easy and cost-effective means of preventing these issues.

2) The “FAQs in effect as of 14 March 2015” are part and parcel of the “IEEE Patent Policy, IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws, and IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual in effect as of 14 March 2015”, because they interpret the Policy and Bylaws. Are the “FAQs in effect as of 14 March 2015” publicly available anywhere?

For the same reasons as noted above, I believe these FAQs need to be made publicly available, both on the “13 June 2019” form and on the website.

Thanks for explaining and clarifying,

Dina

From: Dave Ringle <d.ringle@xxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2019 5:12 PM
To: PP-DIALOG@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [PP-DIALOG] IEEE-SA Patent Policy in effect on 14 March 2015

Hi John,

They are not.

As is noted at https://standards.ieee.org/content/ieee-standards/en/about/policies/index.html, we keep the current versions of the SASB Bylaws and SASB OpMan online.

Requests (via email) are to be made for archived versions.

Regards,

Dave

On Mon, Aug 26, 2019 at 4:53 PM Kolakowski, John (Nokia - US) <john.kolakowski@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi Dave. Are these documents currently publicly available somewhere?

Thanks,

John

From: Dave Ringle <d.ringle@xxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2019 4:40 PM
To: PP-DIALOG@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [PP-DIALOG] IEEE-SA Patent Policy in effect on 14 March 2015

Attached are the IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws and IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual that contain the patent policy that was in effect on 14 March 2015.

Regards,

******************************************************************
David L. Ringle
Director, IEEE-SA Governance
IEEE Standards Association
445 Hoes Lane
Piscataway, NJ 08854-4141 USA
TEL: +1 732 562 3806
FAX: +1 732 875 0524
EMAIL: d.ringle@xxxxxxxx
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