on 5/29/04 10:15 AM, Hallam-Baker, Phillip at pbaker(_at_)verisign(_dot_)com
wrote:
There are two basic forms, one is a patent license, the other is
an agreement not to enforce claims - for example see
http://www.ietf.org/ietf/IPR/hp-mib
[snip]
In general the form of the grant is that anyone can use the invention
provided that they do not attempt to assert a patent claim against
the owner in respect of the same specification.
This is actually a pretty good condition because it encourages
other IP owners to release their claims.
I _like_ the idea of a patent rights grant, much more than I like the
existing Microsoft Caller-ID patent license. Of course, even a patent
rights grant can be objectionable if it contains obnoxious grant
limitations.
-Richard