**REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FROM CONTRIBUTORS TO UN/CEFACT**

1 You probably will be aware that the UN/CEFACT Steering Group has been
working on a revised version of our intellectual property policy, which
is intended to deal with the basis on which all contributors to the
products of UN/CEFACT bring the intellectual property in their
contributions to that process.

2 We submitted the draft policy to the UN's in-house legal team, the
Office of Legal Affairs (the OLA), in order to obtain their advice on
the final form that the policy should take. One aspect of the OLA's
advice has raised an issue on which the CSG feels it necessary to
consult all contributors to the process in order to gauge the likely
impact of adopting the policy as suggested.

3 The issue relates to the ownership of intellectual property in the
products developed by UN/CEFACT. The draft policy contemplates a
requirement that all participants should, as a condition of being
permitted to take part in the work, give an irrevocable royalty free
perpetual licence of any existing and/or future IP rights that they make
available for the development of UN/CEFACT deliverables. The OLA has
expressed concern that such a licence needs to be supported by an full
and unlimited indemnity from each contributor in favour of the UN
against any claim that any third party might conceivably make alleging
that the UN/CEFACT deliverable infringes the intellectual property
rights of any such third party. This would mean that if the UN ever
became the subject of such a claim then it could look to the particular
contributor(s) for the recovery of any financial loss suffered by the UN
in such circumstance.

4 In order to decide on what form of policy should be finalised for
submission for approval within the UN we are anxious to establish the
potential reaction from contributors to the idea of giving such an
indemnity. We would be very grateful if you could indicate whether, in
principle, you would be prepared to give such an indemnity. It is
recognised that contributors come from both large and small business
enterprises as well as individuals, governments and national and
international organisations so different considerations are likely to be
relevant in different cases.

5.  Another possible alternative under consideration might be to adopt a
    different policy, not containing an indemnity, and which is
    currently operated elsewhere in the UN, which would specify that all
    intellectual property created by contributors will be transferred
    (as opposed merely to being licensed) to the UN.

6.  We would be very grateful if you could review the attached
    statements and let us know your views.

RESPONSES

1 The requirement to give such an indemnity will:

A make me/my company/organisation more likely to participate in
UN/CEFACT;

> B make no difference to my/my company/organisation's preparedness to
> participate in UN/CEFACT;

C make me/my company/my organisation less likely to participate in
UN/CEFACT;

D cause me/my company, my organisation to withdraw from UN/CEFACT

2 Would your answer to question 1 above change, and if so how, if the
alternative policy as set out at paragraph 5 were adopted?

Please delete as appropriate and return to Mika Vepsalainen, UN/CEFACT
Secretariat, \< Mika.Vepsalainen@unece.org \> as soon as possible but no
later than 31 March 2004.