Insight
Volume 13
Num
3 June 5,
2011
International standards and trade policy strategic
developments.
| NIST has prepared a Summary of the responses to the December 8 RFI on Federal Agency Participation in Standardization Activities in Select Technology Areas and related Observations based on these responses. The summary and observations are intended to facilitate both internal (government) and external (public) discussion and interactions on issues related to federal government engagement in standardization activities in national priority areas. |
| GTW Associates
had submitted recommendations
and substantive comments in March 7,
2011 Standardization feedback to the Sub-Committee
on Standards Docket No. 0909100442–0563–02 Effectiveness
of Federal Agency Participation in Standardization.
GTW had found 24 of the the 93 public comments (including GTW) on the Effectiveness of Federal Agency Participation in Standardization addressed the matter of Intellectual property rights in standards setting. Fully one third of the 24 respondents noted there was no need for fundamental change to existing approaches of handling IP issues in standards setting With respect to IPR policy NIST found a theme in the comments:
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| The Federal Trade Commission will hold a workshop
IP
Rights in standards setting June 21 in Washington DC
In a May
13 Federal Register FTC has posed
such issues as, “"When standards
incorporate technologies that are protected by patent rights,
there is a
possibility for “hold-up” by a patent owner – a demand for higher
royalties or other more costly or burdensome licensing terms
after the standard is implemented than could have been
obtained before the standard was chosen … and … questions such as "What
has been the experience of those SSOs that
require or allow ex
ante disclosure of licensing terms? How
frequently do ex
ante disclosures of licensing terms occur? Why
are ex ante disclosures of licensing terms not required or made?
Comments on the workshop topics are due by June 14. Comments on the overall topic are due July 8. Noteworthy is the NIST observation in its Summary
of the replies to its RFI that of 92 commenters twenty-six responses provided general commentary
that did not specifically address the questions outlined in
the RFI. GTW Associates
urges participants in standards setting to share their
experience with respect to patent hold up in collaborative
standards setting
whether
there has been a holdup problem or not. I believe it will help FTC to have context
to the operation of the global voluntary standards system.
I am not aware for example of the frequency of
many of the hypothetical problems in the notice for
example “it may be possible for a patent holder to deceive SSO members concerning
its patent rights—subverting the competitive process of
choosing among technologies” It would be helpful for
someone to establish the dimensions of this issue and comments
from the global community of standards participants sharing
their experience with FTC will no doubt be helpful in this
regard. |
| GTW Associates contributed
Whither
European or International Services Standards? in
a Talkstandards
event Standardising
the Single Market
May 31 While
the focus was on “Services standards”
GTW posited the strategic policy question: “ why
with respect to services standards have you stopped at the
confines of what constitutes Europe these days? Is this not a
strategic blunder? Should not the objective be a global
market? GTW highlighted the issues
presented by different
EU and US proposals defining specific
elements in any draft text relating to international standards
in the Negotiating Group on Non-Agricultural Market Access
(NGMA) of the WTO
|
| European
Commission Announced Measures to Modernize European
Standardization. The European Commission
proposed June 1 a series of legislative and
non-legislative measures intended to accelerate expand, and
modernize European standardization activities.
|
| GTW
Associates will participate June 7 in the Talkstandards event A
New Strategy for European Intellectual Property Rights
to
focus on the European
intellectual property rights strategy released
on the 24th of May 2011.
|
| ANSI
revised and published in February new
Guidelines for Implementation of
the ANSI Patent Policy
The new text addresses the cases where:
Occasionally ASDs have encountered situations where a potentially essential patent claim(s) becomes known or identified to the ASD but the ASD does not receive a Letter of Assurance ("LoA"). This situation may arise for various reasons and appropriate responses will vary depending on the circumstances. The following is an illustrative list of possible actions based on actions ASDs have taken in the past. Note that this is not an exhaustive list and the items listed may not be appropriate in particular circumstances. Possible actions before an American National Standard (ANS) issued and while the document is under development: ASD stops the ANS approval process ( i.e., no ANS issued)ASD publishes the document but not as an ANS ASD substitutes alternative technology for the suspected technology ( i.e., a work around) |
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has requested comments on its Draft NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Release 2.0 Phase 1): Engage stakeholders in a participatory public process to identify applicable standards and requirements, gaps in currently available standards, and priorities for additional standardization activities. (Phase 2): Establish a Smart Grid Interoperability Panel forum to drive longer-term progress. (Phase 3): Develop and implement a framework for conformity testing and certification In the meantime the governing board of the Smart Grid interoperability panel has approved procedures for adding standards to its “Catalog of standards” and the SGIP approved changes to its bylaws May 31 |
|
| Defense, VA chose e-health record graphical user interface The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have selected a key component of the their joint electronic health record -- the graphical user interface, which clinicians will use to access records and radiological imagery. |
| In March 2011 USTR
published
the 2011
National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE)
the twenty-sixth in an annual series that surveys
significant foreign barriers to U.S. exports. The report describes
barriers to trade in 60 nations, the European Union, and the Arab
League. The report contains descriptions of the IP landscape
in each of the countries covered, and often notes “concerns”
about perceived weakness in enforcement. The introduction
describes the report as a statutorily required “inventory of the
most important foreign barriers affecting U.S. exports of goods and
services, foreign direct investment by U.S. persons, and protection
of intellectual property rights. There
are 24 references to standards in the report.
The report refers to The
United States Trade Representative's two
important earlier compilations of non tariff barriers to trade
facing US Exporters |
| ANSI convened a provocative meeting May 12 Standards Wars: Myth or Reality? The event uncovered instances where conflict and duplication in standards development have been intentional in response to stakeholder needs, and unintentional due to lack of awareness of existing standardization efforts The meeting addressed how the forces of competition, convergence, and coordination impact standards development. |
| Prof. Tim
Büthe (Duke University, USA) and Prof. Walter Mattli (Oxford
University, UK). have written a helpful treatise The
New Global Rulers: The Privatization of Regulation in the
World Economy on the role that technical and often
non-governmental rules play in the governance of global
product and financial markets. |
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GTW Associates welcomes
your
comments and suggestions.
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