Tracking Number Firm Name Date Doc Title Relevant Patents Commitment Description Commitment Type
1 Blackboard 2/1/07 Blackboard Patent Pledge Patent 6,988,138; Pending patent applications: 11/251,110; 10/443,149; 10/643,075; 10/653,074; 11/142,965; 10/373,924; 10/918,016 Non-assertion promise applying only to “Open Source Software or Home-Grown systems to the extent that such Open Source Software or Home-Grown Systems are not bundled with proprietary software” Non-assertion
2 Blackboard 3/13/10 The Blackboard Patent Pledge Patents: 6,988,138; 7,493,396; 7,558,853; Pending patent applications: 12/470,739; 10/443,149; 10/643,075; 10/653,074; 11/142,965; 10/373,924; 10/918,016 Non-assertion promise applying only to “Open Source Software or Home-Grown systems to the extent that such Open Source Software or Home-Grown Systems are not bundled with proprietary software;” subject to a defensive termination clause Non-assertion
3 Computer Associates, International 09/2005 Computer Associates International, Inc.’s Statement of Non-Assertion of Named Patents Against OSS Patents 5,414,809; 6,282,544; 6,143,537; 5,734,796; 6,850,952; 6,907,412; 6,212,509; 5,325,361; 6,704, 806; 5,796,942; 5,958, 015; 6,336,140; 6,754,713; 6,493,811 Non-assertion promise; subject to termination against any party who files a lawsuit asserting patents or other intellectual property rights against Open Source Software. Non-assertion
4 Environmental Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) 9/7/10 Open Web Foundation Agreement 0.9 (OWFa 0.9) GeoServices REST Specification Non-assertion agreement that applies “so long as all required portions of the Specification are implemented;” RAND-Z license; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z
5 Ericsson 1/12/12 Ericsson strengthens focus on IPR licensing Ericsson’s SEPs “Ericsson complies with, and endorses, terms that are fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory for its patent licensing programs, which make standard-essential patents widely available. This makes Ericsson the partner of choice for new entrants to the market, as well as established companies seeking to license technology at fair and commercially viable rates.” RAND
6 Ericsson 11/27/12 Ericsson takes action for fair and reasonable patent licensing Ericsson’s SEPs “Ericsson is committed to licensing its standard-essential patents on Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms for the benefit of the industry. It believes that FRAND licensing strikes the appropriate balance between incentivizing companies to contribute technology to open standards and maintaining the overall royalty rates at a reasonable level to allow new entrants access to the market. ” FRAND
7 Facebook 4/7/11 Open Web Foundation Final Specification Agreement (OWFa 1.0) (Patent and Copyright Grants) Specification for Open Compute Project Battery Cabinet Hardware v.1.0 Non-assertion agreement; royalty-free license on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z
8 Facebook 4/7/11 Open Web Foundation Final Specification Agreement (OWFa 1.0) (Patent and Copyright Grants) Specification for Open Compute Project 450W Power Supply Hardware v. 1.0 Non-assertion agreement; royalty-free license on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z
9 Facebook 4/7/11 Open Web Foundation Final Specification Agreement (OWFa 1.0) (Patent and Copyright Grants) Specifications: AMD Motherboard Hardware v1.0; Data Center v.1.0; Intel Motherboard Hardware v1.0; Server Chassis and Triplet Hardware v1.0 Non-assertion agreement; royalty-free license on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material.  The “related entity” clause terminates terminates reciprocal rights apparently permitting the purported licensee to retailiate against the licensor’s customers. Non-assertion / RAND-Z license
10 Facebook 4/20/10 Open Web Foundation Agreement 0.9 (OWFa 0.9) Open graph protocol Non-assertion agreement; royalty-free license on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material.  The “related entity” clause terminates terminates reciprocal rights apparently permitting the purported licensee to retailiate against the licensor’s customers. Non-assertion / RAND-Z
11 Google N/A Open Patent Non-Assertion Pledge Pledged Patents: US 8,126,909, US 7,756,919, US 7,650,331, US 7,590,620, US 2012/0278323, US 2012/0254193
US 2012/0215787, US 2010/0122065
PCT/US2012/030941, PCT/US2012/030897, GB 0834128
JP 3290182, CN ZL96103884.5, GB 0747840, JP 3217965, US 6449619
CN ZL96103885.3, KR 100188491
DE 69614928.1, FR 0747842, EP 1497729, DE 69507968.9, US 6061769, US 6694506, DE 69333408.8, FR 0592046, GB 0592046, US 5748929, DE 69614764.5, FR 0747843, GB 0747843, US 5701451, US 5974441
DE 69617318.2, FR 0747844, GB 0747844, JP 3217968, US 5710918
US 5761663, DE 69612034.8
FR 0747841, GB 0747841
JP 3072713, US 5745754
DE 69610026.6, FR 0747840
KR 100188484, TW 84109690
US 5752246, US 6094655
US 6604135, BE 0747845
CA 2177917, CH 0747845
DE 69608166, GB 0747845
IT 0747845, JP 3217964
NL 0747845, TW NI-077782
US 5721908, CN ZL96103886.1
GB 0747842, TW NI-081212
US 5793964, US 5777549
US 5696486, US 6057757
US 6255943, US 6205563
US 6603396, DE 69714723
EP 0898822, US 6131112
US 7007104, US 5768501
US 6000045, US 6430712
DE 69825571, EP 968589
US 5958010, US 6714976
US 6064304, US 6373383
DE 1200907, EP 1200907
US 7756818, US 6981177, US 2011/0145199		 The Open Patent Non-Assertion Pledge (Open Patent Non-Assert or OPN) was developed by Google to decrease patent threats around open-source software (OSS). Non-Assertion Pledge
12 IBM 1/11/05 IBM Statement of Non-Assertion of Named Patents Against OSS 500 IBM patents related to interfacing; storage management; multi-processing; data processing programming; human interfacing; database and data handling; image processing and video technology; human language processing; compression, encryption, and access control; software development and object technology; Internet and e-commerce; networking and network management; etc. Non-assertion promise applying only for the benefit of open source software (i.e., “any computer software program whose source code is published and available for inspection and use by anyone, and is made available under a license agreement that permits recipients to copy, modify and distribute the program’s source code without payment of fees or royalties.”); subject to termination against any party “who files a lawsuit asserting patents or other intellectual property rights against Open Source Software.” Non-assertion
13 IBM 10/24/05 IBM Statement of Support of Open Standards-Based Healthcare Industry and Education Industry Standard 27 standard specifications related to web services, electronic forms, or open document formats Non-assertion promise applying “only to the extent [the covered standards] are implemented in the Healthcare Industry or Education Industry in accordance with” the standards; subject to termination against parties asserting patents or IPR against other implementers of the standard Non-assertion
14 IBM 7/13/07 Interoperability Specifications Pledge IBM software patents covering 150+ specifications Non-assertion promise; subject to termination if the the implementer asserts claims against any implementation of the specifications Non-assertion
15 IBM 9/26/06 IBM Establishes Worldwide Patent Policy to Promote Innovation: Pledges Thousands of Hours to Community Review of Patent Applications; Reduction in Business Method Patents 100+ IBM business method patents “IBM will make available over 100 of its business-method patents — about 50 percent of IBM’s total business method patents — to the public, where they can be used openly to stimulate innovation.  IBM will focus future business method filings on those with substantial technical content, and as a result, expects to substantially reduce its filing of business method patents.” There is no indication whether IBM followed through on this pledge. General patent policy statement
16 IBM 9/26/06 IBM Establishes Worldwide Patent Policy to Promote Innovation: Pledges Thousands of Hours to Community Review of Patent Applications; Reduction in Business Method Patents All IBM patents “IBM will make its patent applications open to community review. . . .  IBM will promptly and publicly record, in its name, assignment of all patents and published patent applications it owns.” (There is no indication whether IBM did or did not follow through on this pledge). General patent policy statement
17 Microsoft 07/2006 Windows Principles: 12 tenets to promote competition Microsoft patents on operating system inventions other than differentiating patents for OS appearance “Microsoft will generally license patents on its operating system inventions (other than those that differentiate the appearance of Microsoft’s products) on fair and reasonable terms so long as licensees respect Microsoft’s intellectual property rights. . . .  Microsoft is committed to supporting a wide range of industry standards in Windows that developers can use to build interoperable products. Microsoft is committed to contributing to industry standard bodies as well as working to establish standards via ad hoc relationships with others in the industry.” FRAND
18 Microsoft 7/19/06 Speech and Questions and Answers by Brad Smith, General Counsel of Microsoft. Microsoft patents on operating system inventions “We will make generally available for licensing all of the patents that we have in the operating system space, save those that differentiate our user interface, the appearance of our software on the screen from competing software. This has been a traditional industry practice, and it gives us I think a good opportunity to learn from the positive experiences of others and assure people that our patents are open and available for licensing. “ General patent policy statement
19 Microsoft 12/3/03 Microsoft Announces Expanded Access To Extensive Intellectual Property Portfolio Patents related to Microsoft’s ClearType technology and file allocation table (FAT) file system “To mark Microsoft’s commitment to enable greater access to its IP, the company announced the availability of two new licensing offerings: one for ClearType technology and the other for Microsoft’s FAT file system. These offerings will be made available under fair and reasonable terms.” Fair and reasonable terms
20 Microsoft 12/3/03 Microsoft’s FAT charges Patents related to Microsoft’s FAT file system “Microsoft offers a commercially reasonable, nonexclusive license so that other companies can use the FAT file system in their own products. Currently, Microsoft offers two specific types of licenses:

•         A license for removable solid state media manufacturers to preformat the media, such as compact flash memory cards, to the Microsoft FAT file system format, and to preload data onto such preformatted media using the Microsoft FAT file system format. Pricing for this license is US$0.25 per unit with a cap on total royalties of $250,000 per manufacturer.

•          A license for manufacturers of certain consumer electronics devices. Pricing for this license is US$0.25 per unit for each of the following types of devices that use removable solid state media to store data: portable digital still cameras; portable digital video cameras; portable digital still/video cameras; portable digital audio players; portable digital video players; portable digital audio/video players; multifunction printers; electronic photo frames; electronic musical instruments; and standard televisions. Pricing for this license is US$0.25 per unit with a cap on total royalties of $250,000 per licensee. Pricing for other device types can be negotiated with Microsoft.”

 Fair and reasonable terms
21 Microsoft 12/3/03 Standards Licensing Microsoft SEPs for “Business Process Execution Language for Web ServicesVersion 1.1,” “Sender ID for E-Mail Specification,” “Compound File Binary File Format (Structured Storage Version 3),” and “Sockets Direct Protocol for InfiniBand Trade Association Specification Version 1.1” Royalty-free license; subject to a grant back for implementations of the same standard; subject to a defensive suspension clause Royalty-free
22 Microsoft 12/16/09 Public Undertaking by Microsoft Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for operating system “Microsoft will provide third-party security vendors with access to [operating system] APIs pursuant to a royalty-free license and on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.” RAND-Z
23 Microsoft 2/8/12 Microsoft’s Support for Industry Standards Microsoft’s SEPs “Microsoft will always adhere to the promises it has made to standards organizations to make its standard essential patents available on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms.  This means that Microsoft will not seek an injunction or exclusion order against any firm on the basis of those essential patents.  This also means that Microsoft will make those essential patents available for license to other firms without requiring that those firms license their patents back to Microsoft, except for any patents they have that are essential to the same industry standard.  Microsoft will not transfer those standard essential patents to any other firm unless that firm agrees to adhere to [this commitment].” FRAND  / Refrain from seeking injunction / Agreement to transfer SEPs only if the commitment runs with the patents
24 Microsoft 2/8/12 Microsoft’s Support for Industry Standards Microsoft’s SEPs Microsoft’s February 8, 2012 patent policy statement “sets forth Microsoft’s long-standing approach to patents that are essential to industry standards: we license them to other firms. We don’t seek to block other firms from shipping products on the basis of these patents. . . .  Microsoft has contributed patented technology to hundreds of standards, yet we are seldom asked to provide a license for our standard essential patents, and we rarely seek such licenses from other contributors.” General patent policy statement
25 Microsoft 9/12/06 Open Specification Promise Various specifications for web services, virtualization, security, open XML and open document file formats, other office file formats, windows compound formats, graphics formats, Microsoft computer languages, robotics, synchronization, windows rally technologies, published protocols, SQL (150+ specifications listed) Non-assertion agreement covering only “those claims of Microsoft-owned or Microsoft-controlled patents that are necessary to implement only the required portions of the Covered Specification that are described in detail and not merely referenced in such Specification;” includes a defensive suspension clause Non-assertion
26 Microsoft 9/12/07 Microsoft Community Promise Various specifications for communications protocols, SQL, security, etc. (80+ specifications listed) Non-assertion agreement applying only “to the extent [the implementation] conforms to one of the Covered Specifications, and is compliant with all of the required parts of the mandatory provisions of that specification.”and subject to a defensive suspension clause;” includes a defensive suspension clause Non-assertion
27 Microsoft N/A Microsoft Specifications: Open Web Foundation Agreement Specifications: Oauth WRAP version 0.9, OpenService Format Specification version 0.8, Simple Web Tokens version 0.9, Web Slice Format Specification version 0.9, XML Search Suggestions Format Specification as of 11/11/2009, “Microsoft makes the following specifications available under an Open Web Foundation Agreement.  Specifications Under OWFa 0.9: OAuth WRAP version 0.9, OpenService Format Specification version 0.8, Simple Web Tokens version 0.9, Web Slice Format Specification version 0.9, XML Search Suggestions Format Specification as of 11/11/2009.  Specifications Under OWFa 1.0 TypeScript Language Specification Version 0.8” Non-assertion / RAND-Z
28 Microsoft N/A Open Web Foundation Agreement 0.9 (OWFa 0.9) Specifications: Oauth WRAP version 0.9, OpenService Format Specification version 0.8, Simple Web Tokens version 0.9, Web Slice Format Specification version 0.9, XML Search Suggestions Format Specification as of 11/11/2009, TypeScript Language Specification Version 0.8 Non-assertion agreement that applies “so long as all required portions of the Specification are implemented;” RAND-Z license; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z
29 Microsoft N/A Open Web Foundation Agreement 1.0 (OWFa 1.0) (Patents and Copyright Grants) TypeScript Language Specification Version 0.8 Non-assertion agreement; royalty-free license on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z
30 Microsoft N/A The Microsoft Patent Pledges for Implementations of Microsoft Communications Protocol Program Technical Specifications: Patent Pledge Regarding Patent Disclosure Patents for MCPP technical specifications, including updates and corrections, for protocols (including extensions to industry-standard or other published protocols) that are used by Windows Server operating systems to interoperate with Windows client operating systems (from Windows 2000 Professional up to and including Windows 8) Non-assertion promise; only covers patents that (1) are not listed in the current list of patents generated for the Microsoft Communications Protocol Program Protocols (“MCPP-Legacy”) via the “Patents” mapping tool (“MCPP-Legacy Patent Map”) posted on Microsoft’s patents webpage; (2) issue from any of the pending patent applications contained in the MCPP-Legacy Patent Map; (3) issue from an application with a priority date that is after the Effective Date of the relevant MCPP-Legacy Patent Map (“New Application”), provided that Microsoft has posted an updated version of the MCPP Patent Map that contains the New Application to the MCPP web site no later than 45 days after the date the New Application has been filed; or (4) are  added to the MCPP-Legacy Patent Map following an update to the MCPP technical specifications that causes such patent or patent application to read upon the MCPP technical specifications, provided Microsoft has updated the MCPP-Legacy Patent Map that contains such patent or patent application on the “Patents” web page no later than 45 days after the date the updated MCPP technical specifications are made available to MCPP licensees Non-assertion
31 Microsoft N/A The Microsoft Patent Pledges for Implementations of Microsoft Communications Protocol Program Technical Specifications: Patent Pledge for Open Source Developers Patents for MCPP technical specifications, including updates and corrections, for protocols (including extensions to industry-standard or other published protocols) that are used by Windows Server operating systems to interoperate with Windows client operating systems (from Windows 2000 Professional up to and including Windows 8) Non-assertion promise; only applies to the creation of software code that is “freely distributed, modified, or copied pursuant to an open source license and is not commercially distributed by its participants” Non-assertion
32 Microsoft 11/2005 Options for Implementers of Office Open XML Microsoft Office 2003 XML Reference Schemas Non-assertion agreement; subject to a defensive suspension clause Non-assertion
33 Microsoft 2/21/08 Interoperability Principles – Principle I: Open Connections to Microsoft Products Microsoft’s “high volume products” “Some of Microsoft Open Protocols are covered by patents. Microsoft will indicate on its website which protocols are covered by Microsoft patents and will license all of these patents on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, at low royalty rates. To assist developers in clearly understanding whether or not Microsoft patents may apply to any of the protocols, Microsoft will make available a list of the specific Microsoft patents and patent applications that cover each protocol. We will make this list available once for each release of a high-volume product that includes Open Protocols. Microsoft will not assert patents on any Open Protocol unless those patents appear on that list. Third parties do not need licenses to any Microsoft patents to call these Open APIs.” RAND license with low royalty rates / Non-assertion
34 Microsoft 2/21/08 Interoperability Principles – Principle II: Support for Standards Microsoft’s “high volume products” “Microsoft commits to supporting relevant standards in its high-volume products and doing so in a way that promotes interoperability. . .   Microsoft will work with other major implementers of the standard toward achieving robust, consistent, and interoperable implementation across a broad range of widely deployed products. To that same end, Microsoft will document for the development community how it supports such standards and how it is working towards broad compatibility and interoperability. . . .  Microsoft will also make available a list of any of its patents that cover any extensions, and will make available patent licenses on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.” RAND
35 Microsoft 2/21/08 Interoperability Principles – Principle III Data Portability “Once customers use one software product to store their data, they should be able to subsequently access that data in a form that permits its use in other software products. Microsoft commits to designing its high-volume products and providing documentation to enable such data portability. . . .  [A]ccess to specifications regarding Open Formats that are not standardized will be available on Microsoft websites, royalty-free, and with no need to obtain a license. Patents, if any apply, will be made available for licensing on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms” Royalty-free / RAND
36 Multiple (A Thinking Ape, Airbnb, Bump, CarWoo, DailyBooth, Disgus, Dropbox, DotCloud, Greplin, Heyzap, Hipmunk, Justin.tv, Loopt, Posterous, Songkick, Stripe, Weebly, Wepay, Anybots, BakedCode, Hackruiter, InboxQ, TrailBehind, Inc., Interviewstreet, Binpress, Earbits, MogoTix, Jive Software, KangarooBox, XWiki, Grooveshark, Hyperink, Freshplum) N/A The Patent Pledge Software patents “No first use of software patents against companies with less than 25 people.” Non-assertion
37 Multiple (Agrari, AOL, Bank of America, Cloudmark, Comcast, eCert, Facebook, Fidelity, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Paypal, Return Path, Trusted Domain, TrueDomain, Yahoo) 7/3/05 Open Web Foundation Final Specification Agreement (OWFa 1.0) (Patent and Copyright Grants) DMARC specification Non-assertion agreement; royalty-free license on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z
38 Multiple (Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NEC, NextWave Wireless, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, Sony Ericsson) 4/14/08 Wireless Industry Leaders commit to framework for LTE technology IPR licensing Patents related to 3GPP LTE/SAE standards “[T]he companies agree, subject to reciprocity, to reasonable, maximum aggregate royalty rates based on the value added by the technology in the end product and to flexible licensing arrangements according to the licensors’ proportional share of all standard essential IPR for the relevant product category.  Specifically, the companies support that a reasonable maximum aggregate royalty level for LTE essential IPR in handsets is a single-digit percentage of the sales price. For notebooks, with embedded LTE capabilities, the companies support a single-digit dollar amount as the maximum aggregate royalty level.” Maximum-royalty rates
39 Multiple (CANARIE, Cisco, Ping Identity, SailPoint Technologies, Salesforce.com, Technology Nexus, Unbound ID) 7/3/05 Open Web Foundation Final Specification Agreement (OWFa 1.0) (Patent and Copyright Grants) Simple Identity Cloud Management: Core Schema 1.0 Draft specification Non-assertion agreement; royalty-free license on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z
40 Multiple (Citizen Agency, IBM, Mozilla, StatusNet, VMWare) 7/3/05 Open Web Foundation Final Specification Agreement (OWFa 1.0) (Patent and Copyright Grants) JSON Activity Streams 1.0 specification Non-assertion agreement; royalty-free license on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z license
41 Multiple (Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo) N/A Open Web Foundation Agreement 0.9 (OWFa 0.9) Oauth Web Resource Authorization Profiles (Oauth WRAP) Version 0.9.7.2 Non-assertion agreement that applies “so long as all required portions of the Specification are implemented;” RAND-Z license; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z
42 Multiple (Nokia, IBM, Samsung, ProSyst Software, Gatespace Telematics) 7/26/06 Leading Tech Companies United to Support OSGi Technology Necessary patents for OSGi Service Platform, Release 4 Specifications Non-assertion agreement; subject to termination if the the implementer asserts IP rights against any implementation of the specification Non-assertion
43 Multiple (NTT DoCoMo, Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens, Fujitsu, Panasonic, Mitsubhishi Electric, NEC, Sony) 11/6/02 Industry leaders NTT DoCoMo, Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens, and Japanese manufacturers reach a mutual understanding to support modest royalty rates for the W-CDMA technology worldwide Essential patents for W-CDMA “Industry leaders NTT DoCoMo, Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens today reached a mutual understanding to introduce licensing arrangements whereby essential patents for W-CDMA are licensed at rates that are proportional to the number of essential patents owned by each company. The intention is to set a benchmark for all patent holders of the W-CDMA technology to achieve fair and reasonable royalty rates. . . .  The above companies also own a significant number of the essential patents applicable to the CDMA2000 standard. These patents will be licensed at fair and reasonable terms.  As essential patent holders, Japanese manufacturers Fujitsu, Matsushita Communication Industrial (Panasonic), Mitsubishi Electric, NEC and Sony Corporation have also expressed their willingness to co-operate with such arrangements.” Maximum-royalty rates / fair and reasonable terms
44 Nokia 5/25/05 Legally Binding Commitment Not to Assert Nokia Patents against the Linux Kernel Patents related to Linux Kernel Non-assertion pledge against any Linux Kernel existing as of May 25, 2005; subject to termination against any Linux Kernel. Non-assertion
45 Nokia 5/25/05 Nokia announces patent support to the Linux Kernel Patents related to Linux Kernel Nokia reserving the right to declare that the pledge does not apply to new functionality embedded in future releases of Linux Kernel Non-assertion
46 Nokia 5/8/02 Nokia advocates industry-wide commitment to 5% cumulative IPR royalty for WCDMA Nokia’s SEPs for WCDMA technology “Highlighting the fact that WCDMA technology has been adopted by the vast majority of mobile operators worldwide and is fast emerging as the global standard of choice for 3G, Nokia is advocating an industry-wide commitment that royalty rates for the 3G technology should not exceed 5% cumulatively. Under this proposal no manufacturer should pay more than 5% royalties covering all essential WCDMA patents from all patent holders. . . .  Nokia is committed to licensing its essential patents under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms, subject to reciprocity.” Maximum-royalty rates / FRAND
47 Nokia Mid 2010 Nokia licensing policy on Long Term Evolution and Service Architecture Evolution essential patents Nokia’s SEPs for wireless communication technologies “Subject to reciprocity, Nokia will license its LTE standards-essential IPR at prices that are consistent with the principle of proportionality and current best understanding of Nokia’s share of all LTE standards-essential IPR. Currently, we expect Nokia’s rate for devices that deploy LTE as the only wireless communication standard to be in a range of 1.5 percent from the sales price of an end-user device. However. a significant use of LTE is expected to be in connection with other wireless communication standards, such as GSM, UMTS and/or CDMA.  When multiple wireless standards are used in the same end product, Nokia will follow similar principles in setting the royalty rate for Nokia patents essential to other standards. To avoid unfavorable effects of royalty stacking, Nokia will not charge royalties higher than 2.0 percent from the sales price of an end-user device for IPR that is essential to wireless communication standards irrespective of the number of wireless standards deployed in such a device.” 1.5% of price of end device for LTE; 2.0% maximum royalty for all Nokia wireless SEPs
48 Novell 10/12/04 Patent Policy: Novell’s Statement on Patents and Open Source Software Novell’s patents related to the Linux kernel or open source programs “We believe that customers want and need freedom of choice in making decisions about technology solutions. Those considering Novell offerings, whether proprietary or open source, should be able to make their purchasing decisions based on technical merits, security, quality of service and value, not the threat of litigation. Novell intends to continue to compete based on such criteria. . . .  Consistent with this belief, Novell will use its patent portfolio to protect itself against claims made against the Linux kernel or open source programs included in Novell’s offerings, as dictated by the actions of others.” General patent policy statement
49 Open Invention Network (OIN) / Multiple licensees (IBM, NEC, Novell, Philips, Red Hat, Sony, Canonical, +500 additional firms) N/A License Agreement OIN-owned patents (200+) and licensee patents relevant to Linux Royalty-free cross-licensing agreement among OIN licensees; applies only to uses for the Linux System Royalty-free
50 Pebble Learning N/A Open Web Foundation Agreement 0.9 (OWFa 0.9) Leap2A specification Non-assertion agreement that applies “so long as all required portions of the Specification are implemented;” RAND-Z license; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z
51 RedHat 5/29/02 Red Hat, Inc. Statement of Position and Our Promise on Software Patents Any software which is licensed under GNU General Public License v2.0 and v3.0; GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 and v3.0; IBM Public License v1.0; Common Public License v1.0; Q Public License v1.0; Open Software License v3.0; or any open source license granted by Red Hat. Non-assertion promise; subject to suspension against “any party who institutes patent litigation against Red Hat with respect to a patent applicable to software (including a cross-claim or counterclaim to a lawsuit)” Non-assertion
52 SafeMashups Inc. 11/11/09 Open Web Foundation Agreement 0.9 (OWFa 0.9) MASHSSL Core Specification 1.2.0 open Non-assertion agreement that applies “so long as all required portions of the Specification are implemented;” RAND-Z license; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z
53 Sun Microsystems 9/30/05 Raising the bar on patents and standards Open Document Format for Office Applications v.1.0 specification Sun’s commitment regarding the OASIS OpenDocument specification is a “blanket promise” that is not “restricted to particular facets or features” of OpenDocument and is not restricted to essential patents. Non-assertion
54 Sun Microsystems 1/25/05 Sun Opens Access to 1,600 patents 1600+ patents associated with Sun’s Solaris operating system “OpenSolaris developers and customers alike no longer need patent protection or indemnity from Sun’s and other participants in the OpenSolaris community for use of Solaris-based technologies under the CDDL and OpenSolaris community process.  By releasing the OpenSolaris OS platform under the CDDL, the open source community will immediately gain access to 1,600 active Sun patents for all aspects of operating system technologies that encompass features ranging from kernel technology and file systems to network management, to name a few. Patents for Sun’s newest technologies, such as the anticipated Dynamic Tracing technology, will also be available under the open access program.” Non-assertion
55 Sun Microsystems 1/31/05 Sun: Patent use OK beyond Solaris project 1600+ patents associated with Sun’s Solaris operating system “Clearly we have no intention of suing open-source developers. . . .  We haven’t put together a fancy pledge on our Web site. . . .  We’re definitely looking into what would make sense and what would make the community feel more comfortable with the patent grant we have made available.” Non-assertion
56 Twitter 4/17/12 Introducing the Innovator’s Patent Agreement All patents issued to Twitter’s engineers, past and present A commitment from Twitter to its engineers that Twitter’s patents will only be used for defensive purposes, unless the engineer authorizes offensive assertion. Non-assertion (defensive suspension triggered by offensive suit)
57 VMWare 5/30/11 Open Web Foundation Agreement for Activity Streams Signed JSON Activity Streams 1.0 and Atom Activity Streams 1.0 Specifications Non-assertion agreement; royalty-free license on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z license
58 Yahoo N/A Open Web Foundation Agreement 0.9 (OWFa 0.9) Media RSS specification Non-assertion agreement that applies “so long as all required portions of the Specification are implemented;” RAND-Z license; includes a termination clause that takes effect if either a licensee or a related entity of the licensor asserts patents against the covered material Non-assertion / RAND-Z