UCAIug Intellectual Property Rights Policy
Effective Date: January 1, 2012
1 Introduction
UCA International Users Group (UCAIug) is a non-profit corporation that is incorporated in the State of Washington. UCAIug is also exempt from Federal Income Tax pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
1.1 Background
The following User Communities are included within UCAIug: (1) IEC 61850 users group; (2) Common Information Model users group; and (3) Open Smart Grid users group. UCAIug and its user communities are focused on assisting Users and Vendors in the deployment of International Standards “for real-time applications of hardware and/or software systems in several industries that have related data acquisition, control and automation requirements” (referred to herein as “Communication Systems”). While UCAIug does not write any standards for Communication Systems, it works closely with those organizations that are primarily responsible for creating and maintaining such standards (notably IEC TC 57: Power Systems Managemen t and Associated Information Exchange).
1.2 Purpose
UCAIug created this IPR Policy (the “IPR Policy”) for the purpose of providing practical guidance to Users of UCAIug documents and to UCAIug Technical Committees and Working Groups regarding intellectual property right (“IPR”) matters. UCAIug creates different types of documents through its committees. These documents may contain IPR. Considering that technical experts are normally not familiar with the complex issue of IPR, this IPR Policy was drafted as a checklist to cover different cases which may arise if a Recommendation/Deliverable requires one or more licenses to be implemented.
2 Development and Use of UCAIug Documents
UCAIug Members work in a collaborative effort on behalf of or at the direction of UCAIug and/or its committees to identify, develop, create and publish documents that contain requirements, implementation agreements and training materials. SDOs (Standards Development Organizations) use those documents and the requirements contained therein to develop standards. Those requirements define how devices and applications that follow these standards should perform.
Documents must be approved by the UCAIug Technical Committees before becoming final documents of the UCAIug. Once a document is finalized, it is published and posted by UCAIug as either a Public Document or Private Document. Any such document may contain IPR of the Contributor. All Public Documents and Private Documents are copyrighted by UCAIug to prevent the unauthorized copying, distribution and use of such documents in violation of the United States copyright laws; however, the copyright does not include the IPR of the Contributor since that is the property of the Contributor. Except as provided under sections 2.1 and 2.2 below, UCAIug Public Documents and Private Documents may NOT be posted publicly on any Server, other than UCAIug Servers, or any other media allowing either restricted or unrestricted access without the express prior permission of UCAIug. Links to these Documents may be posted on Servers other than UCAIug Servers.
2.1 Use of Public Documents
Public Documents may be used by any Member or non-Member for the following purposes: for reference; for creating Derivative Works; for Sharing; for such other uses as long as such uses are in full compliance with the Berne Convention with respect to international Copyright Laws; and for such other purposes deemed appropriate by UCAIug and approved in advance, in writing, by UCAIug.
2.2 Use of Private Documents
Private Documents may be used by any Member for the following purposes: for reference for creating Derivative Works; and for such other uses as long as such uses are in full compliance with the Berne Convention with respect to international Copyright Laws; and for such other purposes deemed appropriate by UCAIug and approved in advance, in writing, by UCAIug. Each Corporate Member is only allowed to use Private Documents internally. Corporate Members are not allowed to share Private Documents with any person or Entity outside their respective Entity. Individual Members are allowed to use Private Documents for their own personal use. Individual Members are not allowed to share Private Documents with anyone. Individual Members working for or under contract with Corporate Members are allowed to use Private Documents the same as the Corporate Member.
2.3 Copyright, Trade Secret, Patent and Applicable Laws
Any Member or non-Member that uses Public Documents or Private Documents must comply with all United States of America and International copyright, trade secret, patent and other applicable laws in connection with the use and distribution of such Documents, including compliance with the Berne Convention, except as otherwise specified in this IPR Policy. Members and non-Members that do not comply with these requirements may be subject to applicable damages, sanctions and such other equitable relief as a court deems appropriate, including paying all of the costs and fees, including legal fees of UCAIug and the affected UCAIug Member whose IPR is involved.
3 Warranties
ALL PUBLIC DOCUMENTS AND PRIVATE DOCUMENTS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY TYPE WHATSOEVER. UCAIug PROVIDES NO WARRANTIES OF ANY TYPE IN CONNECTION WITH ANYTHING CONTAINED IN ANY PUBLIC DOCUMENT OR PRIVATE DOCUMENT. UCAIug HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING ANY INFORMATION DISCLOSED DURING ANY UCAIug EVENT OR OTHERWISE PUBLISHED (EITHER PUBLICLY OR PRIVATELY) OR PROVIDED BY UCAIug IN ANY MEDIA OR FORMAT. THE USER OF ANY UCAIug CONTENT IN ANY PUBLIC DOCUMENT OR PRIVATE DOCUMENT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT SUCH USE IS AT SUCH USER’S SOLE RISK AND THE USER THEREOF BEARS ALL LIABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH USE AS WELL AS THE RESULTS ARISING FROM SUCH USE.
4 IPR
Public Documents or Private Documents may or may not contain the information included in the IPR Disclosure Form. This is important so that such Documents do not have to be updated by UCAIug when information in the IPR database changes.
4.1 Contributions
Any Sharing of any Contribution during any UCAIug Activity shall be deemed to have occurred on a non-confidential basis. No valid copyright, trade secret or patent right shall be deemed to have been waived by such Sharing as long as the Contributor complies with Section 4.2 below in advance of any such Sharing.
4.2 IPR Disclosures
Any Contributor who knows or should have known that IPR is or may be included in his Contribution to a Public Document or a Private Document must disclose such IPR to UCAIug as soon as reasonably practical. Failure to disclose IPR allows UCAIug to take whatever action it deems appropriate. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE.
Contributors and Users acknowledge that UCAIug was not formed for and is unable to verify the validity of any IPR and that all such information is being provided “AS IS”. Users of Public Documents and Private Documents should consult the UCAIug web page http://www.ucaiug.org for IPR disclosed to UCAIug. IPR disclosures are made by following the instructions at http://www.ucaiug.org/ipr_instructions.
A third party can notify UCAIug of IPR believed to be included in a Contribution by sending an email message to UCAIug-IPR@ucaiug.org. When UCAIug receives any such notice the UCAIug Secretary will:
- notify the appropriate Technical Committees involved;
- notify the IPR holder of such notice; and
- ask the IPR holder to take any action the IPR holder deems appropriate.
The Contributor must promptly update the previously filed IPR disclosure for any material change to IPR previously disclosed.
4.3 IPR repository
UCAIug maintains an online repository of IPR Disclosed to UCAIug. This repository contains only the following information:
- Copies of IPR disclosures made to UCAIug; and
- Availability of licenses to use IPR
Disclosures to UCAIug are listed in the on-line IPR repository http://www.ucaiug.org/ipr. UCAIug makes no determination of any aspect of the IPR, including its validity, enforceability or applicability. The User of any IPR in any Public Document or Private Document acknowledges that such use is at such User’s sole risk and the User thereof bears all liability and responsibility for such use as well as the results arising from such use.
5 Recommendations
Any Recommendation included in any UCAIug Document represents the conclusion arrived at by Domain Experts during open discussion on a particular topic. UCAIug Recommendations are not intended to be binding on the SDOs. The objective of each Recommendation is to ensure compatibility of technologies and systems on a worldwide basis. The goal of compatibility is the implementation of systems from various Vendors that are interoperable. Recommendations should not contain any IPR where possible. However, it is reasonable that a Working Group may consider the inclusion of IPR that it deems important in a Recommendation. If IPR is thought to be contained in a Deliverable, either fully or partly, the presence of such IPR must be disclosed in the Deliverable by the person or Entity who knows or should have known of the presence of such IPR or any Member who discovers IPR is contained therein. UCAIug will not verify any IPR claims.
6 Notifications
6.1 No Identified IPR
A Public Document or Private Document, for which no IPR is identified during the preparation thereof, shall contain the following notice in the introduction:
“UCAIug hereby notifies the User that no Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR”) were identified during the preparation of this document. However, the possibility exists that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of IPR. UCAIUG IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR IDENTIFYING ANY IPR. ALL SUCH INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED “AS IS.”
6.2 Identified IPR
The editor of any Public Document or Private Document in which IPR has been identified during the preparation thereof shall include the following notice in the introduction:
“UCAIug hereby notifies the User that someone has claimed that implementing the Recommendations included in this document may involve the use of Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR”) concerning (…subject matter…) incorporated or stated in (…sub clause…).” UCAIUG WILL NOT VERIFY ANY IPR CLAIMS. ALL SUCH INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED “AS IS.”
IPR Disclosed to UCAIug is listed in the on-line IPR repository http://www.ucaiug.org/ipr. The User needs to contact the Disclosing IPR holder to negotiate the terms and conditions for using the IPR or be subject to potential claims, causes of action and damages by the holder of such IPR.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of IPR other than those identified above. UCAIUG IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR IDENTIFYING ANY IPR . ALL SUCH INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED “AS IS.”
7 Definitions
| Term | Description |
| Activity | A specific deed, action, function, or sphere of action: work that involves direct experience. |
| CIMug | Common Information Model users group. |
| Contribution | Anything submitted in any written format (including, without limitation, electronically, visually, or in any media format,) to UCAIug by a Contributor:
|
| Contributor | An individual or Entity submitting a Contribution. |
| Deliverables | The product or output from a process. Deliverable is a term used in project management to describe a tangible or intangible object produced as a result of the project that is intended to be delivered to a customer (either internal or external). A deliverable could be a report, a document, a server upgrade or any other building block of an overall project. |
| Derivative Work | A Derivative Work consists of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, updates, enhancements, work-a-rounds, or other changes and/or modifications to an original work of any type which taken as a whole or in part represents a new original work of authorship of the creator. |
| Domain Expert | A User who, by work experience, education or training, is recognized to have superior knowledge in the area, issue or domain under discussion. |
| Entity | An entity is an organization, including without limitation, a company, corporation, limited liability company, any type of partnership, or association, that has a distinct, separate legal existence and regardless of whether it is for profit or non-profit. Entity includes only the parent company and does not include its subsidiaries or other related organizations. In law, a legal entity is an entity that is capable of bearing legal rights and obligations, such as a natural person or an artificial person (e.g. business entity or a corporate entity). |
| IEC | International Electrotechnical Commission. |
| IEC61850ug | IEC61850 users group. |
| Implementer | Any Entity who develops hardware, software or systems based on International Standards |
| Implementing Technology | Technology required fo r implementing or complying with a International Standard |
| Industry | Any industry. |
| International Standards | Standards accepted/acknowledged by more than one country. |
| IPR or Intellectual Property Right(s) | Any patent, copyright, utility model, invention registration, and/or database and data rights that may be included within an Implementing Technology for a document and/or a Deliverable, whether such rights arise from an application, a registration, or a renewal of any of the above, or arise from any thoughts or ideas recorded in any media or format. |
| Member of UCAIug (or also referred to as a “Member” or “UCAIug Member”) | Any individual or Entity that supports UCAIug through annual membership fees and participation in UCAIug activities. |
| non-Member of UCAIug (or also referred to as a “non-Member”) | Any guest of UCAIug who is provided access to UCAIug documents that are have been made publicly available by UCAIug. |
| OSGug | Open Smart Grid users group. |
| Private Document | Documents created by UCAIug and available only to UCAIug Members. |
| Public Document | Documents created by UCAIug and available to the public (including UCAIug Members) who accessing the UCAIug public document libraries. |
| Reasonably and personally known | Something that an individual knows personally or should reasonably be expected to know because of the education and/or job position held by the individual. This rule creates a presumption that any individual who is affiliated with an Entity in any capacity, whether including, but not limited to, as an employee or contractor, is deemed to have reasonable knowledge related to the IPR of the Entity with whom such individual is affiliated as long as such IPR is or should be within the scope or and/or related in any capacity to the position that such person holds in such Entity or the education and training of such person. This rule is also designed to prevent an Entity from alleging that any i ndividual who is employed by or otherwise affiliated with an Entity in any capacity did not have any knowledge of the IPR of that Entity if such person should have known of such IPR as a result of the position held by or the education and training of such person. This requirement does not require the Contributor (or the Entity he/she represents, if any) to perform any special type of activity to find IPR. |
| Recommendation | A concept, ideal or Deliverable that UCAIug encourages an SDO to include in a standard. |
| SDO or Standards Development Organizations | Those organizations responsible for the developing, updating and maintaining standards. |
| Server | Any electronic device (e.g., computer) which hosts data and other information that is available to individuals and/or Entities who are permitted to access the server to obtain such information. |
| Sharing | The practice of distributing or providing access to any type of information. |
| Technical Committee | Technical Committees are groups of members created by UCAIug as deemed necessary to work on specific areas of interest to User Communities. |
| Users | Anyone interested in or using information in UCAIug documents solely for education, research or the manufacture of equipment or devices or any other purpose approved in advance by UCAIug. |
| User Community | A group of Users sharing common interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from other User Communities of UCAIug. User Communities are Entities under the governance of UCAIug. User Communities become affiliated with UCAIug by petitioning the UCAIug Board of Directors. |
| Vendors | Users offering services or the manufacturer of hardware or software. |
| Working Group [WG] | A group of Users working together temporarily until some goal is achieved. |
