Patent-Free Declarations

Author's Declaration

Any Author may make an initial patent-free Author's Declaration to the Free Protocols Foundation relating to a protocol. To make an Author's Declaration, send the declaration to the following e-mail address: declarations@freeprotocols.org.

A valid Author's Declaration must include the following components:

• The name of the Author. The Author is the individual, company, organization or other entity that has primary responsibility for the protocol.
• The date.
• The name of the protocol(s) for which the declaration is being made.
• Publication information for the declaration. In order to accept an Author's Declaration, the Free Protocols Foundation requires that a base specification for the protocol has been published in a stable medium. The preferred form of publication is as an Internet RFC. If published in this way, this requirement will be satisfied by providing the RFC number. If the base specification is published in some other medium, please provide sufficient publication information to allow the Free Protocols Foundation to verify the stability of the publication method.
• Full disclosure of any patents that are known by the Author to have been claimed or asserted with respect to the protocol.
• A statement that the Author will not participate in the obtaining of any patents relating to the protocol.
• A statement that if the Author becomes aware of any patent claims relating to the protocols, the Author will make prompt disclosure of this to the Free Protocols Foundation.
• A statement that it is the Author's intention to maintain the patent-free nature of the protocol.

Provided the declaration addresses these requirements, the exact wording of the declaration is at the discretion of the Author.

Examples of declarations previously provided to the FPF can be seen at the Author's Declarations section of the FPF website.

When submitted to the above e-mail address, your declaration will be reviewed by the Free Protocols Foundation to verify that it addresses all the above requirements. If it does, it will then be published on the Free Protocols Foundation website, and you will be notified of this by e-mail.

If the declaration does not satisfy the above requirements, then you will be notified of this by e-mail. You will also be provided with a description of what additional information is required to make the declaration acceptable.

In most cases the Free Protocols Foundation will provide a response to your declaration submission within 5 business days.

Working Group Declaration

If a Working Group participates in the development and/or maintenance and enhancement of a protocol, it may make a declaration that its protocol maintenance and enhancement procedures conform to the FPF Processes and Procedures regarding patent-freedom. A Working Group may do this by providing the Free Protocols Foundation with a statement that its protocol development process conforms to the processes and procedures set forth in Section 6.

To make a Working Group Declaration to the Free Protocols Foundation, send the declaration to the following e-mail address: declarations@freeprotocols.org.

A valid Working Group Declaration must include the following components:

• The name of the chairperson or other person, organization or entity responsible for the Working Group operation.
• The date.
• The name of the protocol(s) for which the declaration is being made.
• Publication information for the declaration. In order to accept a Working Group Declaration, the Free Protocols Foundation requires that a base specification for the protocol has been published in a stable medium. The preferred form of publication is as an Internet RFC. If published in this way, this requirement will be satisfied by providing the RFC number. If the base specification is published in some other medium, please provide sufficient publication information to allow the Free Protocols Foundation to verify the stability of the publication method.
• The medium through which the Working Group operates. Typically this is a public mailing list.
• A statement that the functioning of the Working Group conforms fully to the policies and procedures of the Free Protocols Foundation.

Provided the declaration addresses these requirements, the exact wording of the declaration is at the discretion of its author.

Examples of declarations previously provided to the FPF can be seen at the Working Group Declarations section of the FPF website.

When submitted to the above e-mail address, your declaration will be reviewed by the Free Protocols Foundation to verify that it addresses all the above requirements. If it does, it will then be published on the Free Protocols Foundation website, and you will be notified of this by e-mail. The protocol will also be added to the list of those declared to conform to the FPF's patent-free policies and procedures. The list of declared-conforming protocols is available in the List of Free Protocols Specifications and Their Declarations section of the FPF website.

If the declaration does not satisfy the above requirements, then you will be notified of this by e-mail. You will also be provided with a description of what additional information is required to make the declaration acceptable.

In most cases the Free Protocols Foundation will provide a response to your declaration submission within 5 business days.