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China’s AVS Intellectual Property Rights Policy – A New Approach for Developing Open Standards

China’s AVS Intellectual Property Rights Policy – A New Approach for Developing Open Standards. Prof. Huang Tiejun Secretary General (tjhuang@pku.edu.cn) Cliff Reader, Ph.D. Chair of IPR Subgroup ( cliff@reader.com ) Audio and Video coding Standards Working group of China.

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China’s AVS Intellectual Property Rights Policy – A New Approach for Developing Open Standards

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  1. China’s AVS Intellectual Property Rights Policy – A New Approach for Developing Open Standards Prof. Huang Tiejun Secretary General (tjhuang@pku.edu.cn) Cliff Reader, Ph.D. Chair of IPR Subgroup (cliff@reader.com) Audio and Video coding Standards Working group of China

  2. Open and Proprietary Standards • Companies always try to establish proprietary standards • Market control: • Higher profit margin • Dictate market direction and timing • Companies still try to control open standards via IPR • Patent pools, e.g., DVD 3C/6C & MPEGLA

  3. Weakness of Open Standards IPR Policies • Policy can bind members and new IP, but not non-members and legacy IP • ISO and ITU policies are limited • Obligation to disclose existence of known related IP • Commitment to license on RAND terms • “Reasonable” is undefined

  4. Efforts Toward Better IPR Policy • Courts enforcing equitable conduct by members of standards workgroups • Up-front commitments by workgroup members • IETF/W3C Royalty-Free policy • IEEE ex ante RAND • AVS IPR Policy • But cannot bind non-members

  5. Practical Improvements for IPR Policy • Leadership of VCEG group for H.264 • Disclosure and commitment per contribution • AVS IPR policy builds upon previous efforts with new innovations in these areas: • Commitment to license • Obligation to disclose • Protection of IP rights

  6. AVS IPR Policy • Membership agreement • AVS requires a signed agreement • Consent to IPR Policy • Commitment to license • Upfront when signing the Membership Agreement • Obligation to disclose known related patents • Protection of IPR for patent holders

  7. Commitment to License • AVS definition: • A subgroup produces a specific standard, e.g., Audio, Video, Systems, DRM • AVS members must participate in at least one subgroup • AVS members may choose not to participate in a subgroup if they do not want to commit to license their patents for that specific standard

  8. Commitment to License • All AVS members declare two default licensing obligations • Participant in a Subgroup • RAND-RF – royalty-free • AVS Patent Pool • RAND • Non-participant in a Subgroup • RAND-RF – royalty-free • AVS Patent Pool • RAND • No license

  9. Obligation to Disclose • For every contribution (proposal) to AVS, the contributor must disclose: • The existence of any known patent or published patent application • The licensing obligation for that patent • Contributors with RAND default commitment must also disclose the existence of unpublished patent applications • Ongoing obligation to disclose any related IPR • The disclosure is based on actual, reasonable knowledge – not exhaustive search

  10. Protection of IPR • Obligations to disclose IPR and to license it depend on subgroup participation • Subgroups develop specific standards, e.g., video, audio, systems, DRM • No participation = no obligation • 90-day review period provides protection against non-contributed IPR • Owner of IP contributed by another organization can select any licensing option including No License • After the review period, the default option applies

  11. AVS Difference from ISO/ITU • Membership • Select default licensing obligation • RF，AVS Pool, RAND • Disclose possible patents in proposal • more favourable licensing is welcome • Working group • Adopt proposal based on technical contribution (performance gain) and licensing choice • Proposal with RF or AVS pool is prior • IPR documents

  12. Licensing and Selecting Key stagesMembers Rights Workinggroup Rights • Non-Participant: • RAND RF • POOL • RAND • No License • Participant: • RAND RF • POOL • RAND • Join AVS • Sign Member Agreement • Declare default option Membership approve Adopt contribution Eliminate patents not being licensed • Participate in Subgroup • Commit to license • License options • Worldwide Patent: • RAND RF • POOL • RAND • China Patent: • RAND RF • POOL • Submit Contribution • Disclose patents • Declare license option Check patents that are not contributed and decide to license or not • 90 days Review

  13. Limits of Standards Groups • No power to manage: • Non-member problem • Legacy patent problem • Legislation is needed for specific case of Standards and IPR: • Legal effect of Public Review • Compulsory licensing • Cap on "reasonable”

  14. Summary • AVS has made the issue or standards and licensing as predictable as possible • Nevertheless, there is a need for legislation to protect national standards and international standards

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