ContentGuard IP Disclosure

Date:      Fri, 7 Jun 2002 16:32:31 -0400
From:      "Gandee, Brad" <Brad.Gandee@CONTENTGUARD.COM>
Reply-To:  Digital Rights Management <RIGHTS-L@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU>
To:        RIGHTS-L@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU
Subject:   Re: ContentGuard IP Disclosure

Mairead, All,

You asked: Surely this doesn't refer to all rights languages?

Answer: Yes the patents are not specific to XrML. In fact, the patents were filed and granted before XrML even existed.

ContentGuard has been very active in standards efforts focused on the need for and creation of a standard rights language. This interest has been expressed in organizations such as MPEG, OeBF, PRISM, SMPTE DC, TV Anytime, ISMA, W3C, IDRM, just to name a few. And now the IEEE in conjunction with CEN/ISSS has scheduled two workshops on Digital Rights Expression Language.

ContentGuard has been actively submitting XrML as a solution in these discussions. A good example is MPEG where as extensive Requirements gathering process was conducted from January to July of 2001. At that point a Call for Proposals was released. There were a number of proposals submitted including XrML from ContentGuard and an extensive evaluation made in December of 2001. At the end of that evaluation process the decision was made by MPEG to use XrML as the basis for the development of the MPEG REL. Some of the more prominent reasons for XrML's selection was the strength of its core architecture, the extensibility that the architecture offered, and the precision of the language (the lack of ambiguity that was found in some of the other submissions)

ContentGuard was very clear upon making our submission of the existence of our patents and our intention to license the IP on RAND terms.

We are actively promoting the creation of extensions of XrML for domain specific needs. This will allow for the creation of applications and components and will be interoperable across of a large number of domains from eBooks or music to financial services, healthcare industry compliance to HIPPA, to web services thus bringing the costs of those systems down and speeding their adoption.

Brad Gandee


From: Mairead Martin [mailto:maireadm@UTK.EDU]
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 10:31 AM
To: RIGHTS-L@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU
Subject: ContentGuard IP Disclosure

The following IP disclosure pertaining to the work of the OASIS Rights
Language Technical Commmittee was posted by ContentGuard on May 21:

"ContentGuard OASIS RL TC Intellectual Property Disclosure May 21, 2002.

At this time ContentGuard believes its US Patents 5,638,443, 5,634,012,
5,715,403, and 5,629,980 have claims that may necessarily be infringed by
the use of a rights expression language, such as the rights expression
language being promulgated by the RL TC, to implement digital rights
management technologies.

ContentGuard agrees to offer a license, on reasonable and
nondiscriminatory terms, to use any patent claim of US Patents 5,638,443,
5,634,012, 5,715,403, and 5,629,980 which are necessarily infringed by the
use of the rights expression language being promulgated by the RL TC."

(Available at http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/rights/documents/oasisrltc.shtml)

I haven't read the patents in question but wondered what the infringement
through "use of a rights expression language ... to implement digital
rights management technologies" entails? Surely this doesn't refer to all
rights languages? Would anyone from ContentGuard or involved in the OASIS
Rights Language effort care to comment?

Mairéad Martin

===============================================================================
Ms. Mairéad Martin                              maireadm@utk.edu
Director, Advanced Internet Technologies        http://www.ait.utk.edu/
Office of Research & Information Technology     Tel: 865.974.6454
The University of Tennessee                     Fax: 865.974.6508
===============================================================================

List archive & subscription: http://listserv.utk.edu/archives/rights-l.html

Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See Patents and Open Standards.

SEARCH Advanced Search ABOUT Site Map CP RSS Channel Contact Us Sponsoring CP About Our Sponsors NEWS Cover Stories Articles & Papers Press Releases CORE STANDARDS XML SGML Schemas XSL/XSLT/XPath XLink XML Query CSS SVG TECHNOLOGY REPORTS XML Applications General Apps Government Apps Academic Apps EVENTS LIBRARY Introductions FAQs Bibliography Technology and Society Semantics Tech Topics Software Related Standards Historic	ContentGuard IP Disclosure Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 16:32:31 -0400 From: "Gandee, Brad" <Brad.Gandee@CONTENTGUARD.COM> Reply-To: Digital Rights Management <RIGHTS-L@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU> To: RIGHTS-L@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU Subject: Re: ContentGuard IP Disclosure Mairead, All, You asked: Surely this doesn't refer to all rights languages? Answer: Yes the patents are not specific to XrML. In fact, the patents were filed and granted before XrML even existed. ContentGuard has been very active in standards efforts focused on the need for and creation of a standard rights language. This interest has been expressed in organizations such as MPEG, OeBF, PRISM, SMPTE DC, TV Anytime, ISMA, W3C, IDRM, just to name a few. And now the IEEE in conjunction with CEN/ISSS has scheduled two workshops on Digital Rights Expression Language. ContentGuard has been actively submitting XrML as a solution in these discussions. A good example is MPEG where as extensive Requirements gathering process was conducted from January to July of 2001. At that point a Call for Proposals was released. There were a number of proposals submitted including XrML from ContentGuard and an extensive evaluation made in December of 2001. At the end of that evaluation process the decision was made by MPEG to use XrML as the basis for the development of the MPEG REL. Some of the more prominent reasons for XrML's selection was the strength of its core architecture, the extensibility that the architecture offered, and the precision of the language (the lack of ambiguity that was found in some of the other submissions) ContentGuard was very clear upon making our submission of the existence of our patents and our intention to license the IP on RAND terms. We are actively promoting the creation of extensions of XrML for domain specific needs. This will allow for the creation of applications and components and will be interoperable across of a large number of domains from eBooks or music to financial services, healthcare industry compliance to HIPPA, to web services thus bringing the costs of those systems down and speeding their adoption. Brad Gandee From: Mairead Martin [mailto:maireadm@UTK.EDU] Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 10:31 AM To: RIGHTS-L@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU Subject: ContentGuard IP Disclosure The following IP disclosure pertaining to the work of the OASIS Rights Language Technical Commmittee was posted by ContentGuard on May 21: "ContentGuard OASIS RL TC Intellectual Property Disclosure May 21, 2002. At this time ContentGuard believes its US Patents 5,638,443, 5,634,012, 5,715,403, and 5,629,980 have claims that may necessarily be infringed by the use of a rights expression language, such as the rights expression language being promulgated by the RL TC, to implement digital rights management technologies. ContentGuard agrees to offer a license, on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, to use any patent claim of US Patents 5,638,443, 5,634,012, 5,715,403, and 5,629,980 which are necessarily infringed by the use of the rights expression language being promulgated by the RL TC." (Available at http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/rights/documents/oasisrltc.shtml) I haven't read the patents in question but wondered what the infringement through "use of a rights expression language ... to implement digital rights management technologies" entails? Surely this doesn't refer to all rights languages? Would anyone from ContentGuard or involved in the OASIS Rights Language effort care to comment? Mairéad Martin =============================================================================== Ms. Mairéad Martin maireadm@utk.edu Director, Advanced Internet Technologies http://www.ait.utk.edu/ Office of Research & Information Technology Tel: 865.974.6454 The University of Tennessee Fax: 865.974.6508 =============================================================================== List archive & subscription: http://listserv.utk.edu/archives/rights-l.html Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See Patents and Open Standards.