ITU Fora Summit 2003 IMTC IPR Sebestyen

Slide1: 

ITU-T Forum Summit 2003

IPR and StandardizationIMTC Viewpoint: 

IPR and Standardization IMTC Viewpoint Dr. Istvan Sebestyen IMTC President

Outline: 

Outline Anything wrong with the current IPR policies of SDOs? IMTC’s IPR-related activities: Setting IPR requirements Promotion of licensing IMTC’s IPR relevant “Historical Archive” Conclusions

Standardization Faces a Crisis: 

Standardization Faces a Crisis Many modern standards face a very complex IPR “environment” Many claimants, unclear situations Licensing difficulties delay market deployment (4 years+) Major approved standards have problems Many are questioning survival of the standardization process

Market Acceptance is Becoming a Real Problem: 

Market Acceptance is Becoming a Real Problem Standards are not working anymore Too many claimed IPR holders (sometimes 50) Lots of valid IPR, hard to determine owners Often too expensive Unrealistic licensing schemes Impossible to get all licenses (too many IP holders) Total cost is unpredictable IPR “raiders” (weak or invalid claims) try to exploit the chaos Consequence: Market movement toward proprietary solutions

Increasing Dangerous Trend: 

Increasing Dangerous Trend Many in industry are questioning if standardization is still practical A perception of breakdown in the process Examples ISO/IEC MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ITU-T G.723.1, G.729 speech codecs ITU-T H.261, H.263 video codecs ITU-T T.81 | ISO/IEC 10914 “JPEG-1” ITU-T H.264 | MPEG4-10 (JVT) – hopefully not…

Something wrong with theSDO IPR Policies?: 

Something wrong with the SDO IPR Policies? Fundamental assumptions of the “classical” IPR policies are shaking Including: “One size fits all” policy works for all standards All SDOs must have similar/same policies Technical and IPR work must be separated Licensing strictly outside the scope of SDO Voluntary “gentleman” like behaviour of actors assumed, no “Standards Police” needed

Traditional SDO Policies Inadequate: 

Traditional SDO Policies Inadequate Traditional IPR policy doesn’t work for very complex IPR situations One policy doesn’t fit all standards Different SDOs can have different policies Technical and IPR work may be merged May have to check IP claims, react technically Licensing can be within scope of SDO Sometimes necessary in complex IPR situations

Implementation and Recordkeeping: 

Implementation and Recordkeeping Voluntary implementation inadequate SDO Secretariat may need to take actions Recordkeeping, Archiving Improvements Must keep ALL records for future research Not just a subset Must keep permanently to prove prior art Good indexes, searchable text will help

What is the solution?: 

What is the solution? Improve SDO IPR policies Meet market requirements for standardization Deregulation, “open source” mean changes Users have many choices – SDOs must compete If standards fail, participation will disappear Only SDOs with successful IP policies will survive Necessary, but a difficult challenge! Affected fora can assist in some areas

What IMTC is Doing: 

What IMTC is Doing At the start of standardization Formulate and communicate IPR requirements to SDOs At the end of standardization Initiate and sponsor the start of licensing activities, if needed Collect & store relevant IPR records “Historical information” on multimedia standards to assist solution of IPR disputes

Formulation of IPR Requirements: 

Formulation of IPR Requirements Best example: ITU-T H.264 | MPEG-4 Part10 IMTC formulated and liaised requirements to ITU-T and ISO/IEC MPEG RF “Baseline” – for fast market breakthrough in real-time communication RAND “Options“ – e.g. for Digital TV Concept was accepted both by ITU and ISO/IEC Problem: SDOs do not have appropriate policy “tools” and practice to ensure “RF Baseline” implementation (“keep your finger crossed”)

Formulation of IPR Requirements (2): 

Formulation of IPR Requirements (2) IMTC takes member input case-by-case IMTC may “steer” particular standards to the SDO whose IPR policy fits best IMTC may suggest a de-facto standard IMTC may define own standard As a last resort only

Kick-off of Licensing: 

Kick-off of Licensing Promote the start of licensing activities Allow fast implementation and market penetration of the standard Best example ITU-T H.264: IMTC/M4IF/ISMA jointly sponsored a June 2003 meeting (Los Angeles) Formulate the licensing requirements as seen by the users. Next step: Licensors getting together…

„Historic Archive“ Goals: 

„Historic Archive“ Goals Central source for prior art and relevant records for IMTC members Discourage filing of invalid patents Clarify situation for standards committees Support defense against invalid patents Promote adoption of new technology Promote growth of IMTC member markets

Don’t Standards Bodies already do this?: 

Don’t Standards Bodies already do this? Standards Orgs. often don’t keep records Their records are not kept forever Some documents are not archived at all (ITU-T Rapporteurs meeting docs, TDs, Delayed docs) Many older records on paper only Especially prior to 1995

Conclusions: 

Conclusions Traditional IPR policies not working Very complex IPR environments Market rejecting delays, complexity SDOs, standardization at risk Improved policies needed ASAP Fora such as IMTC can help the situation Advice, choice of SDOs Historical archive projects

Thank you!: 

Thank you! Questions?

Background slides on the IMTC‘s „Historical Archive“: 

Background slides on the IMTC‘s „Historical Archive“

“Historical” Standards Archive: 

“Historical” Standards Archive Historical information relevant to multimedia technology & standards Contents include: ITU-T H.3xx Systems MPEG Systems H.26x; G.72x; T.xx (media codecs) Other relevant standards Already running with partial database

Electronic Access (members only): 

Electronic Access (members only) All archives will be in electronic form Older paper documents will be scanned Available via Web/FTP CDs, DVDs if possible

Data Sources: 

Data Sources Existing databases IMTC member records Standards Org. records References to existing information

What will be Stored?: 

What will be Stored? All meeting contributions All meeting reports Lists of participants Records of IPR licensing declarations Copies of available pre-existing records Copies of Standards Org. patent databases Journal articles, brochures, conference procs. References to books, expired patents, etc.