Subject: [Syslog] Having IPR in IETF Documents

From: Chris Lonvick <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 15:58:03 -0700 (PDT)

Hi Folks,

I do want to be clear on this subject.  Hauwei is well within their rights 
to discover something while writing a Working Group document, and then to 
claim IPR on that discovery.  This has happened in the past which was why 
the IETF started writing BCP 79 - currently RFC 3979.  The discussion of 
the use of IPR in IETF documents has been very rocky but overall, the IETF 
is really just catching up with other standards developing organizations.
Almost all other standards organizations have developed clear rules about 
bringing IPR into their documents and the IETF has done the same.

This is not unique to our Working Group.  Please look at the other IPR 
disclosure statements that have been filed:
   https://datatracker.ietf.org/public/ipr_list.cgi

I also want to note here that Hauwei has done the right thing in filing a 
disclosure.  Please consider what would happen if a company knowingly 
inserted IPR into a standard without disclosing it.  People and companies 
would implement it and would then be liable for whatever terms were 
imposed upon them.  RFC 3979 clearly states that a disclosure must be 
made, and Huawei has done that.

The IETF will not make any assertions about the validity of any claim. 
RFC 3979 is clear on this point as well.  As a Working Group, we have been 
informed that some IPR has been claimed and we will need to deal with it 
without attempting to decide if it is a valid claim or not.  Now that we 
know that IPR is being claimed in one of our documents, we have some 
options open to us.  We can either accept the terms and continue with the 
document, or we can attempt to work around the claim.  There is a process 
here and we will follow it.  I am again asking for your patience while we 
sort some things out.  When we have more information, I will start asking 
for consensus on the mailing list.  The first thing is to ask Hauwei to 
update their disclosure to address the most recent version of the 
document.  I've sent that request and will notify everyone when I get a 
response.

What David Harrington has done has also been proper and according to form. 
He has notified the Working Group of an IPR disclosure statement.  He 
called me and we discussed the situation.  He felt that he didn't want 
there to be any question of a conflict of interest between his position as 
WG Co-Chair and that of a Huawei employee in this matter so he has recused 
himself of this discussion.  I will ask for your coorporation and support 
in following this process so we can reach consensus and move forward.

If you wish to debate the use of IPR in IETF documents, please go to the 
iprwg.
   http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/ipr-charter.html

Thanks,
Chris

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