Hidden IP: booby trap or buried treasure?

— If the process by which technology standards are forged and implemented isn't broken, it is surely straining under the weight of globalization, relentless technological change, patent-infringement and antitrust lawsuits as well as increasingly noisy standards battles among competing industry consortia.

In response, standards bodies are reviewing their procedures for dealing with intellectual-property (IP) rights. Many are focusing on patent and licensing disclosure. The IEEE, for instance, is awaiting a government opinion on a plan to use voluntary patent disclosure in its standards proceedings (see story, below). Groups like VITA, the Digital Video Broadcasting Project and Jedec are either conducting similar reviews or contem- plating new disclosure requirements.

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