As of June 2019
1. Introduction
CalConnect provides direction and influence by identifying and stating needs and requirements and by developing and publishing open standards itself, as well as progressing specifications into appropriate other standards-setting organizations. CalConnect also actively particiipates in the work of other standards bodies via liaison agreements. As a proponent and developer of open standards, CalConnect has adopted a patent policy and IPR practices that align with major international standardization bodies including ISO, IEC and ITU.
2. IPR Policy and guidelines
CC/DIR 10003 provides the CalConnect patent policy, which mirrors closely the "Common Patent Policy for ITU-T/ITU-R/ISO/IEC".
CC/DIR 10005 provides guidelines for implementation of the CalConnect patent policy, and specific steps on the operation of filing IPR statements. It is fully aligned to the "Guidelines for Implementation of the Common Patent Policy for ITU-T/ITU-R/ISO/IEC" jointly published by IEC, ISO and ITU.
CC/DIR 10005 further specifies the establishment of a "Patent Information Database” to allow CalConnect members to file IPR statements on IPR positions, similar to the processes performed at standardization organizations including at ISO, IEC, ITU and IETF.
CD/DIR 10006 is the CalConnect Intellectual Property RIghts Policy.
This alignment provides assurance to organizations and partners who work with CalConnect, knowing that IPR practices at CalConnect are international best practices.
It is the policy of CalConnect that no confidential material is to be discussed at or during CalConnect activities. All information provided or discussed in CalConnect activities is presumed to be public information and member participants are reminded that they should not discuss or reveal any confidential information of their respective companies. While work in progress within CalConnect is not publicly available other than to CalConnect members, with minor exceptions completed work products are intended to be publicly and freely available and will be posted on the CalConnect web site. See CD/DIR 10006 Section 4.1.
3. Contributions
The term "contribution" refers to material provided by a member of CalConnect during any activity, and may also refer to to material provided by others on a Consortium external discussion list. Participants in CalConnect activities, whether in person or via electronic means, must avoid contributions which contain confidential material. Contributions which contain intellectual property of an organization must be disclosed and are subject to the rules and guidance as stated above. No material which is subject to any terms of confidentiality or restriction of dissemination on the part of its contributor or the contributor's organization can be accepted for such use. Individuals participating in the activities of CalConnect are responsible for determining that material which they contribute is made available by their organizations in accordance with this provision. See CD/DIR 10006 Section 4.2.
4. Copyright Provisions
If any part of a contribution is or may be subject to copyright, the contributor and his or her organization, and any other owners of any proprietary rights in the contribution, grant an unlimited perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, world-wide right and license to CalConnect under any copyrights in the contribution. This license includes the right to copy, publish and distribute the contribution in any way, and to prepare derivative works that are based on or incorporate all or part of the contribution, the license to such derivative works to be of the same scope as the license of the original contribution. See CD/DIR 10006 Section 5.3.