IBM OASIS ebXML Intellectual Property Disclosure, May 16, 2002

IBM, as an OASIS ebXML specification development participant, supports a full disclosure policy for essential published patent applications and issued patents, and an acknowledgement policy for potentially essential unpublished patent applications.

IBM intellectual property disclosures are based upon the working knowledge of those individuals involved with the respective Technical Committee and do not represent the results of an IBM patent portfolio search.

At this time, IBM believes the following patent may be essential to compliant implementations of OASIS ebXML Collaboration Protocol Profiles (CPP's) and Collaboration Protocol Agreements (CPA's) specifications.

• IBM US Patent 6,148,290 (Service Contract for Managing Service Systems, issued November, 2000, to Asit Dan & Francis Parr)

IBM believes it has an unpublished patent application, potentially essential to the OASIS ebXML Collaboration Protocol Profiles (CPP's) and Collaboration Protocol Agreements (CPA's) specifications under development. IBM is unable to provide more specific information regarding this unpublished patent application, until such time as the application is published or the patent is issued. (When and if the unpublished patent application becomes published, IBM will be able to provide this documentation to the OASIS Technical Committee.)

IBM will, upon written request, provide a nonexclusive, royalty free patent license, with other reasonable terms and conditions for ALL patents issued to IBM which contain essential claims and for which IBM is able to provide patent licenses (including the issued patent and unpublished patent application disclosed above), for the OASIS ebXML Collaboration Protocol Profiles (CPP's) and Collaboration Protocol Agreements (CPA's) Versions 1 and 2 specifications. This patent license is available to all entities willing to grant IBM a reciprocal license.

Any party wishing to request a patent license, in support of OASIS ebXML CPP and CPA Versions 1 & 2 specifications,

Should write to:
IBM Director of Intellectual Property & Licensing
IBM Corporation
North Castle Drive, Armonk, N.Y., 10504

Or fax to:
IBM Director of Intellectual Property & Licensing
(914) 765-4420

Submitted by Chuck Adams, Program Director of Standards, Intellectual
Property & Licensing, IBM Corporation
wcadams@us.ibm.com, 16 May 2002

Statement from IBM, 30 May 2002, to answer questions regarding the 16 May 2002 IP disclosure:

To ebXML "Collaboration Protocol Profile and Agreement" interested parties:

Recently, questions have arisen, indicating potential misunderstandings about IBM's recent patent disclosure and license offer. The following responses are offered to address these questions.

Q) Why is IBM disclosing patents and offering a license?

A) The ebXML effort operates under the OASIS intellectual property rules. According to these rules, IBM provided the CPPA related patent disclosures and the supporting licensing information. It was an IBM business decision to provide this license with royalty-free terms.

Q) Is the IBM license "free for all time"?

A) YES. Patents are granted and remain enforceable until they are either abandoned or until 20 years from the original application date. The license granted by IBM, for the CPPA specifications, is for the full relevant patent term or for as long as required to implement the specifications, whichever occurs first.

Q) Is the license only provided to those entities holding patents and thus able to reciprocate?

A) NO. You do not have to be a holder of a patent or patent application to receive this royalty free license. The license is available to any entity desiring to implement the specifications. The reciprocity term requires an entity, currently holding or subsequently obtaining essential patents or applications, to agree to license those patents and applications to IBM under the same terms and conditions, thus the term "reciprocal."

Q) Why did IBM provide a license to ALL patents required by the specifications?

A) IBM wanted to remove any potential confusion regarding implementation of the specification. Since a complete patent search and analysis of a large portfolio is very time consuming, IBM wanted to provide the assurance that our portfolio would not impede adoption of the specifications.

Q) Why did IBM limit the patent license to V1 and V2 of the specification?

A) IBM commits to continue to provide a royalty free license to the already identified patents for future versions of these CPPA specifications. Beyond that, it is not possible to know in advance the full scope and details of future specifications or OASIS patent policies. Neither IBM nor anyone else can commit to much else at this time. Given IBM's clear statements about the importance of OASIS in the global standardization process, IBM will continue to evaluate specifications and policies as they evolve and / or develop.

Submitted by Chuck Adams, Program Director of Standards, Intellectual Property & Licensing, IBM Corporation
wcadams@us.ibm.com, 30 May 2002