The IETF, like any other standard body, isn't about publishing idea or
inventing things, but all about enabling interoperability between discrete
implementations and parties. Patents do not enable interoperability on their
own because of their nature and limitations (at least in the US). However,
patents are often involved when engineering interop solutions.
The questions you have to ask yourself are: Are you looking to create a new
market? Is this market more likely to succeed if it is open for all and free to
participate or fee-based? Are you going to make a greater profit in an open
(bigger) market or in a closed (usually smaller) market?
EHL
On 1/21/10 4:57 PM, "Abhishek Verma"
<abhishekv(_dot_)verma(_at_)gmail(_dot_)com> wrote:
Hi,
I have a basic question relating to patents and IETF.
Assume that i have a nifty idea on how i can speed up, lets say, a
database exchange in OSPF. My doubt is that why should i submit an
IETF draft describing this, which can later become an RFC, when i can
very well patent this idea? I understand that if i submit this to
IETF, then there will be an RFC and all vendors will come out with
inter-operable implementations. However, if i dont give it to IETF and
rather submit a patent, i can do very well for the vendor that i work
for. All customers using this vendor's boxes will now have access to
patented database exchange in OSPF, which will effectively mean more
business for this vendor.
So, the question is, what is the motivation for somebody to write an
internet-draft when the person can file a patent?
I spoke to several people offline and i couldnt get any good answers.
The typical response was that most ISPs prefer multiple vendors, and a
patented solution will cause issues as the other vendor will not have
that support. Is this the only reason?
Thanks,
Abhishek
_______________________________________________
Ietf mailing list
Ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf
_______________________________________________
Ietf mailing list
Ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf