| About ITU-T TSB Patent Statements Database |
In order to facilitate both the standards making process and the
application of ITU-T Recommendations, the Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau (TSB) is making available the ITU-T Patent
Statements database composed of information that was communicated
to the TSB (formerly the CCITT) by administrations, private
enterprises, etc. that participate in the standards making
activities of the ITU-T Study Groups. The patents mentioned in the
Statements are embodied fully or partially in an ITU-T
Recommendation. The Statements may contain information on specific
patents or may contain no such information, but rather give a
general statement about an organization's compliance with ITU-T
Patent Policy, for a particular Recommendation. (This patent
policy statement can be found under paragraph III below)
This database is not certified to be either accurate or complete,
but only reflects the information that has been communicated to
the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. As such, the
database may be viewed as simply raising a flag to alert users
that they need to contact the organizations who have communicated
Patent Statements to the TSB in order to determine if patent
licenses must be obtained for application of a particular
Recommendation.
I Composition of the database
In each record of the database there are 10 categories:
1. Recommendation Number:
The number of the Recommendation to which the Patent Statement
refers, ex: G.707
2. Id. Number.: The identification number assigned to the Patent
Statement communicated to the TSB. If there were, for
example, 84 Patent Statements communicated to the TSB referring to
Recommendation H.262, then there would be identification numbers
ranging from H262-01 to H262-68.
3. Organization: The organization that holds the patent which
could include administrations, universities, etc., and its contact
address.
4. Tel. No.: The contact telephone number of the organization.
5. Fax. No.: The contact fax number of the organization.
6. Patent Policy and Remarks: The declared patent policy of the
organization in its communication to the TSB. Most often the
patent statement in the database is given as "Pat. pol.
2.2", which means that the organization subscribes to
subclause 2.2 of the Statement on ITU-T Patent Policy. Often the
patent policy is given as "Pat.pol. 2.2 (under condition of
reciprocity)", which means that the patent holder
organization subscribes to subclause 2.2 but only under the
condition that other companies holding patents also subscribe to
subclause 2.2 in their relations to the patent holder
organization. However, TSB disclaims any definitive interpretation
of the organization's statement. This must be determined by direct
negotiations with the organization.
7. Patent Title: The title of a patent, if given, in an
organization's communication to the TSB.
8. Patent Number: The number of the patent cited in the
communication to the TSB. If the patent has not yet been granted
but has been applied for, the number given will be followed by
"(appl. no.)" to indicate it is an application number.
9. Patent Country: The country in which the patent has been
obtained. If the patent is held in several countries, only the
major country (if that can be determined) is given and in the
"Patent Policy and Remarks" category, the countries are
given where there are foreign counterparts mentioned in the Patent
Licensing Declaration.
10. Date Patent Statement Received: The date when the statement of
Patent Licensing Declaration was received at the Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau. If that date cannot be determined (which
is the case for some old Statements), then the date printed on the
Statement itself, or the CCITT document in which it is cited, is
used.
II Correcting the
database
If any organization finds that the information
concerning their statement of Patent Licensing Declaration in this
database is in error or not up-to-date, they should communicate
their updating information to:
Director
Telecommunication Standardization Bureau
International Telecommunication Union
Place des Nations 1211
Geneva 20 Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 730 5853
III Statement on ITU-T Patent Policy
The following is a "code of
practice" regarding intellectual property rights (patents)
covering, in varying degrees, the subject matters of ITU-T
Recommendations.
The rules of the "code of practice" are simple and
straightforward. Recommendations are drawn up by
telecommunications and not patent experts; thus, they may not
necessarily be very familiar with the complex international legal
situation of intellectual property rights such as patents, etc.
ITU-T Recommendations are non-binding international standards.
Their objective is to ensure compatibility of international
telecommunications on a worldwide basis. To meet this objective,
which is in the common interests of all those participating in
international telecommunications (network and service providers,
suppliers and users) it must be ensured that Recommendations,
their applications, use, etc. are accessible to everybody. It
follows, therefore, that a commercial (monopolistic) abuse by a
holder of a patent embodied fully or partly in a Recommendation
must be excluded. To meet this requirement in general is the sole
objective of the code of practice. The detailed arrangements
arising from patents (licensing, royalties, etc.) are being left
to the parties concerned, as these arrangements might differ from
case to case.
This code of practice may be summarized as follows (it should be
noted that ISO operates in a very similar way):
1 The Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) is not
in a position to give authoritative or comprehensive information
about evidence, validity or scope of patents or similar rights,
but it is desirable that the fullest available information should
be disclosed. Therefore, any ITU-T member organization putting
forward a standardization proposal should, from the outset, draw
the attention of the
Director of TSB to any known patent or to any known pending patent
application, either their own or of other organizations, although
the TSB is unable to verify the validity of any such information.
2 If an ITU-T Recommendation is developed and such
information as referred to in paragraph 1 has been disclosed,
three different situations may arise:
2.1 The patent holder waives his rights; hence, the Recommendation is
freely accessible to everybody, subject to no particular
conditions, no royalties are due, etc.
2.2 The patent holder is not prepared to waive his rights but would be
willing to negotiate licenses 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 the ITU-T.
2.3 The patent holder is not willing to comply with the provisions of
either paragraph 2.1 or paragraph 2.2; in such case, no
Recommendation can be established.
3 Whatever case applies (2.1, 2.2 or 2.3), the patent holder
has to provide a written statement to be filed at the TSB using
the ITU-T “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 Patent Statement and Licensing Declaration form.
Formerly CCITT Recommendations.
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