Opening Statement for Meetings of ODVA Special Interest Groups (“SIGs”)(This statement is to be read by the Chair of the SIG or his/her designee, at the opening of each meetingof the SIG or its sub-groups at least once per year or whenever the meeting includes new participants.)
ODVA’s Technical Review Board (“TRB”) establishes standing special interest groups (“SIGs”) for
technical standards of the corporation. SIGs are formal technical working groups that have been
approved to develop enhancements to the ODVA Specifications, as well as guidelines andrecommendations for the application of ODVA technologies.
A SIG operates as a working group of ODVA. As a working group of ODVA, a SIG shall operate within
ODVA’s legal and philosophical framework as an open standards development organization (“SDO”). In
this regard, ODVA is committed to improving the industrial automation industry through the development,enhancement, certification and promotion of widely adopted standards for devices used in industrialautomation. As part of this commitment, ODVA embraces standards and practices of open access andtransparency. Compliance with ODVA’s policies and meeting guidelines are essential to avoid violation ofapplicable laws or violation of ODVA’s nonprofit, tax-exempt status under US law. All participants in SIG
meetings shall review, understand and comply with applicable policies and guidelines. In particular,participants shall review (1) ODVA’s Policy for Conduct of ODVA Activities for Compliance with Antitrustand Competition Laws, and (2) ODVA’s Policy regarding Intellectual Property.
As an SDO, ODVA and participants in its working groups shall be very careful to avoid violations ofantitrust and competition laws. In bringing competitors together, one element of a possible violation mayalready be present – a combination of competitors. Thus, all that may be needed to prove a violation oflaw is an action to restrain competition. Several aspects of ODVA’s activities deal with subjects that are
sensitive from an antitrust/competition law viewpoint – product standards, certification, best-practices
discussions, and customer relations. Therefore, adherence to ODVA’s guiding principles of open accessand transparency are essential.
As a working group of ODVA, a SIG operates under ODVA’s Policy Regarding Intellectual Property.
Under the Policy Regarding Intellectual Property, participants in a SIG have an obligation to disclose
certain patent rights. If YOU, as a participant in a SIG, have actual knowledge that the use of information
included in a specification or proposed specification is covered by your company’s patents or patentapplications, then YOU must disclose your company’s patent rights to ODVA, unless YOU or yourcompany provided the covered information to ODVA. (If YOU or your company provided the covered
information to ODVA, then it will automatically be licensed to ODVA under the Policy regarding
Intellectual Property.)
You are reminded that all information YOU are exposed to in a SIG is confidential information of ODVAthat should not be disclosed to third parties. Notwithstanding the foregoing, provided that YOU are aparticipant from a member and not an invited expert, YOU may share ODVA confidential
information with employees of your member company unless and until the SIG chair or thepresident notifies you to the contrary. When permitted, YOU may only share such confidential
information with employees of your member company who (i) have a business need to know, and(ii) are bound by confidentiality obligations and use restrictions that are no less restrictive thanset forth in ODVA's Policy Regarding Intellectual Property. Specifically, YOU and your company’sother employees must use at least commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the confidentialityof such information unless and until ODVA allows it to be publicly released, and YOU may use
such confidential information only for SIG-related purposes (including without limitation yourcompany’s product development efforts relating to the SIG’s activities). YOU understand that yourmember company will be liable for any failure of YOU and such member company employees tocomply with the foregoing requirements. If YOU disclose your own confidential information to the SIG,
it will not be treated as confidential for YOU or your member company and it will no longer be protected
as a trade secret.
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Furthermore, ODVA is an industry SDO and your participation is for that purpose. Participating in an SDO
that includes your competitors creates the potential for cooperation or exchanges of information that may
violate applicable antitrust and competition laws. While participating in an SIG, YOU shall avoid
discussing the following topics:
1. Current or future prices of your company or of your competitors.
2. Matters related to prices, such as discounts, credit terms, profit levels, or production volumes.
3. Other recent data that might allow comparison of market share or sales figures, and aggregate
market data to the extent that it may be disaggregated to give individual figures.
4. Wage and salary rates, equipment prices, or other actual costs of individual companies, because
these costs are an element of price.
5. Dividing up, allocating, or rationalizing markets, bids, geographic areas, types of business, orcustomers among competitors.
6. Refusals to deal with suppliers, customers, or other competitors.
For more information about complying with antirust and competition laws, see the Policy for Conduct ofODVA Activities for Compliance with Antitrust and Competition Laws located at the ODVA website.

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