[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Modular approach to key management


Hugh, Russ, Hugo, Ashar, and others,

  I'd like to know _exactly_ what the patent status is of each of the
proposals on the table.  By this I mean that I'd like to see the
following become crystal clear:

1) Is any aspect of the proposal patented (including patents pending) ?
1b) If so, which parts are patented by which patent numbers and who
	are the inventors and assignees ?

2) If some prior agreement has been reached that the patent will be
made available to all comers at no cost (e.g. as part of IEEE 802
work), that would be worth knowing about.  Otherwise, under what terms
are the patents available ?

	We have had strongly negative history within the past year in
the Mobile IP working group where people knew they had patents but did
not disclose those patents up front.  The IETF way is to disclose the
existence of patents IMMEDIATELY and to the ENTIRE working group, not
just the chairpeople.  I'd really like to avoid hidden patent issues
in this work.  Even if (2) isn't immediately answerable, it is very
important to openly disclose (1) and (1b) immediately and to the
entire list.

	I think most folks are aware of the Diffie-Hellman and RSA
patents.  I believe the use of the RSA-Ref software package legally
excludes individuals (but not vendors) from having to pay monetary
license fees on those 2 patents.

Regards,

Ran
atkinson@itd.nrl.navy.mil
Follow-Ups: References: