TRON Forum IPR Policy (Ver.2.0)

TRON Forum Intellectual Property Right (IPR) Policy(Ver. 2.0)

Established on March 4, 2005
Revised on April 1, 2015
This document is English translation from Japanese original and provided solely forreference. In case of any discrepancy between the Japanese original and this English
translation, the Japanese original shall prevail.
[Purpose]This document specifies the official policy of the Forum with respect topatents and utility models (hereinafter called the "IPRs"), which are owned byMembers or Non-members of the Forum and covers the Forum Standards, in theprocess of producing the Forum Standards.
[Policy Objectives]
In order to promote the implementation of the Forum Standards, it isdesirable to make the IPRs available to many people with royalty free as far as
possible even if whole or any part of the Forum Standards contains the subject of theIPRs owned by the Members, at the same time, in view of the respect for the IPRs it is
not desirable to unreasonably impose obligations on the Members in connection with
the IPRs they hold.
With acceptance on this point, the Forum hereby establishes the policy for thehandling of the IPRs in the case where whole or any part of the Forum Standards
involves the subject of the IPRs.

Section IArticle 1
1.1

General Rule

Definition“Forum” means the TRON Forum, including the Ubiquitous ID Center.

1.2“Forum Standards” means specific standards and technical specifications
established by the Forum with respect to the T-Engine, the Ubiquitous ID Center and1

TRON Forum IPR Policy (Ver.2.0)

ucode, the scope of which is to be determined by a standardization committee in theForum.
1.3“Working Group Draft” means a draft of the Forum Standards discussed anddetermined by a working group in charge of the development of the Forum
Standards.
1.4“Final Draft” means a final draft of the Forum Standards which has been
deliberated by the standardization committee after confirmation of an IPR declaration
regarding the Working Group Draft.
1.5“Essential Claim” means any claim in any patent, utility model andpublished application thereof throughout the world (hereinafter collectively called
the "Patent") that would necessarily be infringed by implementation of a Forum
Standard, provided that a claim is necessarily infringed only when there is notechnically available and non-infringing alternative for implementing the Forum
Standard.
1.6“Member” means a member, an officer and a secretariat of the Forumspecified in the Articles of Association of the Forum.
1.7“Working Group Participating Member” means a Member who participatesin the discussion of a Working Group Draft in a working group. Any Member whojoins in the working group before the working group determines the Working Group
Draft shall equally be deemed the Working Group Participating Member inconnection with the Working Group Draft.
1.8.
“IPR Holder” means any right holder of the Patent containing the Essential
Claim.
1.9“Establishment of the Forum Standards” means the time when a Final Draft
is approved by an executive committee in the Forum. The term "Establishment ofthe Forum Standards" shall include establishment of newly approved ForumStandards and revision thereof.
1.10“Use of the Forum Standards” means acts which meet both of the following

two requirements:

2TRON Forum IPR Policy (Ver.2.0)(i)to manufacture, have a third party manufacture, use, import,sell, lease, offer to sell, and otherwise dispose of products which, inwhole or in part, rely fully on the Forum Standards; and(ii)to display an indication to be designated by the Forum on theproducts set forth in paragraph (i) above when manufacturing, having athird party manufacture, using, importing, selling, leasing, offering tosell, and otherwise disposing of the products.
Any entity which meets both of the requirements set forth in (i) and (ii) above
shall be referred to as the "User of the Forum Standards".
1.11“Licensing Conditions” means the following conditions:(1)an IPR Holder will not claim its right under the Essential Claim andshall grant a license to the Essential Claim without any conditions to all theUsers of the Forum Standards whether or not they are the Members within
the limits of the Use of the Forum Standards.
(2)

an IPR Holder shall grant a license to the Essential Claim withreasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions within the limits of
the Use of the Forum Standards to all the Users of the Forum Standards
whether or not they are the Members, subject to any of the followings:(i) entrusting the handling of the Patent to the Forum or any third
party appointed by the Forum;(ii) entering into an individual agreement; or(iii) complying with the handling of the Patent by existing
standardization bodies.
(3)
an IPR Holder shall select neither (1) nor (2) above regarding theEssential Claim.

Section IIArticle 2

Possible Declarations by IPR Holder

Declaration before Establishment of Forum Standards

2.1
In the event that whole or any part of a Working Group Draft in a working
group is covered by the subject of an Essential Claim owned by a Working Group3

TRON Forum IPR Policy (Ver.2.0)

Participating Member in the working group, the Working Group Participating
Member may, as an IPR Holder, declare the Licensing Condition set forth in either
paragraph (1) or (2) of Article 1.11, and if the IPR Holder declares the Licensing
Condition set forth in paragraph (2), it shall have two (2) weeks after theEstablishment of the Forum Standard to select any of options (i), (ii) or (iii) therein.
2.2
In the event that whole or any part of a Working Group Draft in a working
group is covered by the subject of an Essential Claim owned by a Member who is notparticipant in the working group (hereinafter referred to as "Working GroupNon-participating Member"), the Working Group Non-participating Member may, as
an IPR Holder, declare any of the Licensing Conditions set forth in paragraphs (1), (2)and (3) of Article 1.11, and if the IPR Holder declares the Licensing Condition set forthin paragraph (2), it shall have two (2) weeks after the Establishment of the Forum
Standard to select any of options (i), (ii) and (iii) therein.
2.3
If a Working Group Participating Member in a working group who is an IPR
Holder resigns from the working group before the determination of a Working Group
Draft in the working group, the Working Group Participating Member shall follow
the same procedures specified in Article 2.1 with respect to the one part of theWorking Group Draft that was present in a working group draft under development
at the time of the Working Group Participating Member's resignment, and follow thesame procedures specified in Article 2.2 with respect to the other part of the Working
Group Draft.
2.4
If any dispute arises in connection with "the one part of the Working Group
Draft that was present in a working group draft under development at the time of theWorking Group Participating Member's resignment " mentioned in Article 2.3 above,
such dispute shall be settled by an IPR committee in the Forum based on documents
including the minutes prepared by a working group.

Article 3

Declaration after Establishment of Forum Standards

3.1
If it is found that whole or any part of a Forum Standard developed in aworking group is covered by the subject of an Essential Claim owned by a Working
Group Participating Member in the working group after the Establishment of theForum Standard, the Working Group Participating Member shall follow the sameprocedures specified in Article 2.1.

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3.2
If it is found that whole or any part of a Forum Standard developed in aworking group is covered by the subject of an Essential Claim owned by a Working
Group Non-participating Member in the working group after the Establishment ofthe Forum Standard, the Working Group Non-participating Member shall follow thesame procedures specified in Article 2.2, provided, however, that if special
circumstances to be considered a breach of good faith exists, the Working GroupNon-participating Member may not declare the Licensing Condition set forth inparagraph (3) of Article 1.11.
3.3
If it is found that whole or any part of a Forum Standard is covered by thesubject of an Essential Claim owned by any entity which is not the Member("Non-member"), the Non-member may, as an IPR Holder, declare any of theLicensing Conditions set forth in paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) of Article 1.11.

Article 4
4.1

Reciprocity

In the event that a User of a Forum Standard, whether or not he/she is theMember, owns a Patent which contains an Essential Claim covering whole or any partof the Forum Standard and declares the Licensing Condition set forth in paragraph(3) of Article 1.11 under its right to the Essential Claim pursuant to this Section II(including the case where he/she claims infringement of patent or utility model rights
based on the Essential Claim without making a declaration for the Licensing
Conditions), any IPR Holder who declares the Licensing Conditions set forth either inparagraph (1) or (2) of Article 1.11 may exclude such a User from the User of theForum Standard under either paragraph (1) or (2).
4.2
In the event that a User of a Forum Standard, whether or not he/she is theMember, takes or likely to take legal proceedings against a Member in connection
with patent or utility model rights, the Member who declares the Licensing
Conditions set forth either in paragraph (1) or (2) of Article 1.11 may exclude such aUser from the User of the Forum Standard under either paragraph (1) or (2).

Section IIIArticle 5

Adoption of Forum Standards

Stage before Establishment of Forum Standards

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5.1
The Forum shall include the subject of an Essential Claim into a Final Draft if,in accordance with Article 2.1, the IPR Holder declares any of the Licensing
Conditions set forth in paragraph (1), options (i) and (ii) of paragraph (2) of Article
1.11, or shall exclude the subject of an Essential Claim from a Final Draft if, inaccordance with Article 2.1, the IPR Holder declares the licensing condition set forthin option (iii) of paragraph (2) of Article 1.11 unless a standardization committeeconsents to such a Final Draft as that includes such an Essential Claim.
5.2

The Forum shall include subject of an Essential Claim into a Final Draft if, inaccordance with Article 2.2, the IPR Holder declares any of the Licensing Conditions
set forth in paragraph (1), options (i) and (ii) of paragraph (2) of Article 1.11, or shallexclude the subject of an Essential Claim from a Final Draft if, in accordance withArticle 2.2, the IPR Holder declares the Licensing Condition set forth in either option(iii) of paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) of Article 1.11, provided, however, that whenthe IPR Holder declares the Licensing Condition set forth in option (iii) of paragraph(2), the Final Draft shall be adopted with inclusion of the subject of an Essential Claim
if a standardization committee consents thereto.

Article 6

Stage after Establishment of Forum Standards

6.1
The Forum shall maintain a Forum Standard with the inclusion of the subjectof an Essential Claim if, in accordance with Article 3.1, the IPR Holder declares any ofthe Licensing Conditions set forth in paragraph (1), options (i) and (ii) of paragraph(2) of Article 1.11, or shall exclude the subject of an Essential Claim from a Forum
Standard if, in accordance with Article 3.1, the IPR Holder declares the Licensing
Condition set forth in option (iii) of paragraph (2) of Article 1.11 unless astandardization committee consents to such a Forum Standard as that includes suchan Essential Claim.
6.2
The Forum shall maintain a Forum Standard with the inclusion of the subjectof an Essential Claim if, in accordance with Article 3.2, the IPR Holder declares any of
the Licensing Conditions set forth in paragraph (1), options (i) and (ii) of paragraph(2) of Article 1.11, or shall exclude the subject of an Essential Claim from a ForumStandard if, in accordance with Article 3.2, the IPR Holder declares the Licensing
Condition set forth in either option (iii) of paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) of Article
1.11, provided, however, that when the IPR Holder declares the Licensing Condition
set forth in option (iii) of paragraph (2), the Final Draft shall be maintained with

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inclusion of the subject of an Essential Claim if a standardization committee consents
thereto.
6.3
The Forum shall maintain a Forum Standard with the inclusion of the subjectof an Essential Claim if, in accordance with Article 3.3, the IPR Holder declares any ofthe Licensing Conditions set forth in paragraph (1), options (i) and (ii) of paragraph(2) of Article 1.11, or shall exclude the subject of an Essential Claim from a Forum
Standard if, in accordance with Article 3.3, the IPR Holder declares the Licensing
Condition set forth in either option (iii) of paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) of Article
1.11, provided, however, that when the IPR Holder declares the Licensing Condition
set forth in option (iii) of paragraph (2), the Final Draft shall be maintained withinclusion of the subject of an Essential Claim if a standardization committee consents
thereto.

Article 7

Responsibility of the Forum

The Forum shall not be responsible for confirming an IPR Holder inconnection with any Working Group Drafts and Forum Standards. In no event shallthe Forum be liable for any dispute which may arise in connection with an Essential
Claim, provided, however, that the Forum will, upon request of a Member, cooperatewith the Member in such dispute to the extent possible.

Article 8

Obligation of Member

In no event shall a Member be obligated to confirm as to whether the subjectof an Essential Claim owned by the Member covers whole or any part of Working
Group Drafts and Forum Standards.

Article 9

Withdrawal of Working Group Draft

In the event that a Working Group Draft does not become a Forum Standard,a declaration of the Licensing Conditions made by an IPR Holder under Article 2
shall be deemed to have been revoked.

Article 10
10.1

Assignment

In the event that a Member assigns its right to the Patent containing theEssential Claim owned as an IPR Holder to a third party due to transfer of its business

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or for any other reason after making a declaration of the Licensing Conditions, theMember shall make all the rights and obligations under the declaration succeeded tothe third party accordingly.
10.2
In the event that a Member assigns its right to the Patent containing theEssential Claim owned as an IPR Holder to a third party in accordance with transferof its business or for any other reason before declaring the Licensing Conditions, theMember shall make all the rights and obligations under this IPR Policy succeeded tothe third party accordingly.

Article 11

Withdrawal from MemberAny declaration of the Licensing Conditions made by a Member inaccordance with the procedure set forth in Section II shall survive even after theresignation of the Member from the Forum.

Article 12

Procedure

12.1
All the specific procedures for the case where whole or any part of a Working
Group Draft is covered by an Essential Claim held by any IPR Holder will beprovided for in the "Rules for Implementation of IPR Policy".
12.2
The details of this IPR Policy will be provided for in the "Rules for
Implementation of IPR Policy".

Article 13

Effective Date of this IPR Policy13.1
This IPR Policy is formed on March 3, 2005 and becomes effective after four(4) weeks, namely, as of April 1, 2005. If this IPR Policy is not acceptable to a
Member at the time this IPR Policy is formed, the Member shall notify a Chairpersonof the Forum in writing of that effect within the four(4)-week period. In this case, theMember resigns from the Forum with confidentiality obligation as provided for in therules of membership of the Forum, provided, however, that this IPR Policy is deemed
to have been accepted by any Member who fails to give such a notice within thefour(4)-week period or who becomes a Member after this IPR Policy has been formed.
13.2

A Member, who has accepted this IPR Policy pursuant to Article 13.1 above,

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shall make the declaration set forth in Section II with respect to Forum Standards
established without an IPR declaration not later than the effective date of this IPR
Policy. Any specific procedures for the declaration, including a reasonable limit oftime for the declaration shall be separately determined by an executive committee.

Article 14

Revision of IPR Policy

14.1
Any doubts or change of circumstances relating to or arising out of thisIPR Policy or any matters not provided for in this IPR Policy shall be discussed
and settled in good faith between the Forum and the parties concerned.
14.2
Any supplement to or revision of this IPR Policy shall be made in writing
and disclosed to all the Members and Non-members of the Forum immediately
after such a supplement or a revision is formed through a procedure based on theprocedure set forth in Article 13.1.
Supplementary Provision
1. This IPR policy revised on April 1, 2015 at the occasion of the name change of“T-Engine Forum” to “TRON Forum” to change the names in the text shall be effective
immediately as Version 2.0.

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