W3C Architecture Domain About Web services · Web Services Activity statement

Web Services Architecture Working Group
IPR disclosures

The following statements are the patent disclosures and license commitments associated with the Web Services Architecture Documents and provided by members of the Web Services Architecture Working Group as required by the W3C Current Patent Practice.

W3C does not take a position regarding the validity or scope of any intellectual property right or other rights that might be claimed to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology, nor the extent to which any license under such rights might or might not be available. Copyright of Working Group deliverables is vested in the W3C.

Per the July 19, 2001 Process Document,

To disclose patent and IPR claims, individuals must send email to [email protected], which is an archived mailing list readable by Members and the Team.

Therefore, when a Member explicitly agrees to have its patent disclosure and IPR claims made public, they are included in this document. Status of other participants is available on the Web Services Architecture Working Group page.

Note: Members of the Working Group are expected to disclose any intellectual property they have in the area. This Working Group will work on a royalty-free basis, as defined in the W3C Current Patent Practice document. The Working Group is thus obliged to produce a specification which relies only on intellectual property available on a royalty-free basis.

Disclosures

Michael Champion

I do not have personal knowledge of any IPR claims held regarding Web services architecture.

Hewlett-Packard Company

Hewlett-Packard may have essential patents. If it turns out that HP does have essential claims, then HP will license them on Royalty-Free terms (as meant in the Current Patent Practice document) to all implementers, whether or not they are Members of W3C.

Dave Hollander

I do not have personal knowledge of any IPR claims held by Contivo regarding web service architecture.

Nokia

Regarding Essential claims in respect of the Web Services Architecture specifications in W3C standardisation, to the extent those Essential claims are included into the final Web Services Architecture specifications in W3C standards, Nokia and its Affiliates agrees not to assert those claims in Nokia patents that are technically necessary to implement those parts of the final Web Services Architecture specifications against any other party in respect of its implementation of the specification, provided that the party relying on this commitment agrees not to assert patents against Nokia or its Affiliates.

Katia Sycara

I am not aware of an IPR relevant to the ws-architecture working group as per [3].

webMethods, Inc.

webMethods has not performed a search of its patent portfolio for the purpose of determining whether webMethods has any patents or patent applications (collectively "Patents") that relate to this activity. webMethods believes that it may have Patents relevant to the Web Services activity and, to the extent that it does, webMethods is not willing to waive its rights in its relevant Patents, if any. However, subject to the conditions in this statement, webMethods' licensing policy for Patents will be upon adoption of this activity or of its contribution as a Recommendation, to negotiate licenses on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms under applicable webMethods intellectual property rights essential to implement and use the technology proposed in its contribution in products that are consistent with this activity or that comply with the Recommendation but only for such purposes. This policy shall apply only to Patent claims that read on Essential Technology as defined below. This undertaking remains valid only as long as such activity or Recommendation exists and applies only to parties who have made an equivalent undertaking.

webMethods expressly reserves all other rights it may have in the material and subject matter of its contribution. The licensing commitments made hereunder do not include any license for implementation of other published specifications developed elsewhere.

The definition of essential technology is taken from the W3C Patent Policy Framework Proposal-W3C Working Draft 28 September 2000: "Definition of Essential Technology".

  1. "Essential" means that an implementation of the specification would necessarily infringe claims of a patent or patent application owned or controlled by the Member at any time during the life of the Working Group and the specification. A claim is necessarily infringed hereunder only when it is not possible to avoid infringing it because there is no commercially plausible non-infringing alternative for implementing the specification, including the protocols, application program interfaces, service provider interfaces, and/or data structures disclosed with particularity in the specification in order to enable products to interoperate, interconnect or communicate as defined within the specification.

  2. Notwithstanding the foregoing, essential claims shall not include any claims other than as set forth above even if contained in the same patent as essential claims; or that read solely on any implementations of any portion of the specification that are not required by the specification, or that, if licensed, would require a payment of royalties by the licensor to unaffiliated third parties. Moreover, essential claims shall not include (i) any enabling technologies that may be necessary to make or use any product or portion thereof that complies with the specification but are not themselves expressly set forth in the specification (e.g., semiconductor manufacturing technology, compiler technology, object oriented technology, basic operating system technology, and the like); or (ii) the implementation of other published standards developed elsewhere and merely referred to in the body of the specification, or (iii) any portions of any product and any combinations thereof the purpose or function of which is not required for compliance with the specification. For purposes of this definition, the specification shall be deemed to include only architectural and interconnection requirements and shall not include any implementation examples unless such implementation examples are expressly identified as being included as part of the specification.

webMethods' contribution and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, webMethods provides its contribution AS IS AND WITH ALL FAULTS, and hereby disclaims all other warranties and conditions, either express, implied or statutory, including, but not limited to, any (if any) implied warranties, duties or conditions of merchantability, of fitness for a particular purpose, of accuracy or completeness of responses, of results, of workmanlike effort, of lack of viruses, and of lack of negligence, all with regard to the contribution. ALSO, THERE IS NO WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, QUIET POSSESSION, CORRESPONDENCE TO DESCRIPTION OR NON-INFRINGEMENT WITH REGARD TO THE CONTRIBUTION.

IN NO EVENT WILL WEBMETHODS BE LIABLE TO ANY OTHER PARTY INCLUDING THE W3C AND ITS MEMBERS FOR THE COST OF PROCURING SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF DATA, OR ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR SPECIAL DAMAGES WHETHER UNDER CONTRACT, TORT, WARRANTY, OR OTHERWISE, ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THIS OR ANY OTHER AGREEMENT RELATING TO THIS DOCUMENT, WHETHER OR NOT SUCH PARTY HAD ADVANCE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.


Hugo Haas, W3C Team contact

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