Suppose A and B are Related W3C Members and one of the organizations is a group Participant. What are the licensing obligations on the other Member?
That depends on the nature of their relation (see section 2.1.2 of the Process Document for the various relations possible). The Patent Policy does not mention Related Members explicitly but does state in section 3.1: This [licensing] requirement includes Essential Claims that the participant owns and any that the participant has the right to license without obligation of payment or other consideration to an unrelated third party. Therefore, if Member A (related to Member B) joins a Working Group, then the licensing commitment would extend to patents held by Member B to the extent that the relationship between the related members is not a barrier to such licensing. Of course, regardless of the licensing relationship between the related Members, Member A continues to have a disclosure the obligations described in section 6 of the Patent Policy.
Related Questions
- Suppose A and B are Related W3C Members and one of the organizations is a group Participant. What are the licensing obligations on the other Member?
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