[cabfpub] Draft Charter for IPR Subcommittee

[Ben Wilson]

All,

As mentioned during the Forum teleconference of April 11, 2024, here is a draft charter for a Forum IPR Subcommittee. (This effort is separate, but somewhat in parallel to the work of the Patent Advisory Group, which will be handling GoDaddy's Patent Exclusion Notice, filed Mar. 22, 2024, in relation to Ballot SC-70.) 

Please provide your comments or questions.

Thanks,

Ben

 

Forum IPR Subcommittee Charter

Upon approval of the CAB Forum by ballot in accordance with section 5.6 of the Bylaws, the Forum IPR Subcommittee (“FIS”) is created to perform the activities as specified in this Charter, subject to the terms and conditions of the CA/Browser Forum Bylaws and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy, as such documents may change from time to time. The definitions found in the Forum’s Bylaws or IPR Policy shall apply to capitalized terms in this Charter.

Scope

The primary activity of the FIS shall be to review, and propose revisions to, the Forum’s IPR Policy, IPR Policy Agreement, exclusion notice template, and similar documents.  The FIS may perform other activities ancillary to this primary activity.  The FIS will not create Final Guidelines or Final Maintenance Guidelines.

Anticipated End Date

The FIS is chartered without a specific end date. However, it is expected that the FIS will deliver results of its initial work to the Forum prior to _____ 2024.  Thereafter, the FIS will continue to exist, but may be dissolved at any time by Forum ballot.

Initial Chairs and Contacts

The proposer of the ballot adopting this Charter, Ben Wilson, will act as organizer of the FIS until the first teleconference is held for the FIS, at which time the FIS will elect a chair and vice-chair, either by vote or by acclamation of those present. The chair and vice-chair will normally serve two-year terms.  However, the first term will start upon their election and run through 31 October 2026.

Members Eligible to Participate

The FIS welcomes the participation of any Member organization of the Forum interested in this work.  Forum Members that have initially declared their participation in this Subcommittee are:

Amazon, Apple, DigiCert, GoDaddy, Google, HARICA, Let’s Encrypt, Mozilla, Sectigo, SwissSign,

Voting and Voting Structure

Voting in the FIS shall be limited to Forum members. Voting shall be egalitarian: all Members shall vote together as a single class, with one vote granted to each Member organization. Any decisions of the FIS needed to be voted upon by the FIS shall be considered adopted if the number of votes in favor exceeds 50% of the votes cast.

Primary Means of Communication

The FIS will communicate primarily through listserv-based email and shall conduct periodic calls or face-to-face meetings as needed.