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RULES OF PROCEDURE, 29-30 November 2022
ETSI DIRECTIVES, 12 December 2022
ii) The Director-General shall write to the IPR owner concerned for an explanation and
request that licences be granted according to Clause 6.1 above. Where the
concerned IPR owner is a MEMBER, it shall inform the Director-General of ETSI of
its decision and provide a written explanation of its reasons in case of continuing
refusal to license that IPR.
iii) Where the IPR owner refuses the Director-General's request or does not answer the
letter within three months, the Director-General shall inform the General Assembly
and, if available, provide the General Assembly with the IPR owner's explanation for
consideration. A vote shall be taken in the General Assembly on an individual
weighted basis to immediately refer the STANDARD or TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION to the relevant COMMITTEE to modify it so that the IPR is no longer
ESSENTIAL.
iv) Where the vote in the General Assembly does not succeed, then the General
Assembly shall, where appropriate, consult the ETSI Counsellors with a view to
finding a solution to the problem. In parallel, the General Assembly may request
appropriate MEMBERS to use their good offices to find a solution to the problem.
v) Where (iv) does not lead to a solution, then the General Assembly shall request the
European Commission to see what further action may be appropriate, including non-
recognition of the STANDARD or TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION in question.
In carrying out the foregoing procedure due account shall be taken of the interest of the
enterprises that have invested in the implementation of the STANDARD or TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION in question.
9 ETSI ownership of IPRs
9.1 The ownership of the copyright in STANDARDS and TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
documentation and reports created by ETSI or any of its COMMITTEES shall vest in ETSI but
due acknowledgement shall be given to copyrights owned by third parties that are identifiable
in ETSI copyrighted works.
9.2 In general, in the absence of any exceptional circumstances, where SOFTWARE is included in
any element of a STANDARD or TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION there shall be no requirement
to use that SOFTWARE for any purpose in order for an implementation to conform to the
STANDARD or TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION.
9.2.1 Without prejudice to Clause 9.1, any MEMBER contributing SOFTWARE for inclusion in a
STANDARD or TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION hereby grants, without monetary
compensation or any restriction other than as set out in this Clause 9.2.1, an irrevocable,
non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sub-licensable copyright licence to prepare derivative
works of (including translations, adaptations, alterations) the contributed SOFTWARE and
reproduce, display, distribute and execute the contributed SOFTWARE and derivative works
for the following limited purposes:
a) to ETSI and MEMBERS to evaluate the SOFTWARE and any derivative works
thereof for determining whether to support the inclusion of the SOFTWARE in that
STANDARD or TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION;
b) to ETSI to publish the SOFTWARE in that STANDARD or TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION; and
c) to any implementer of that STANDARD or TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION to evaluate
the SOFTWARE and any derivative works thereof for inclusion in its implementation
of that STANDARD or TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION, and to determine whether its
implementation conforms with that STANDARD or TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION.
9.2.2 (i) The copyright licence granted in Clause 9.2.1 shall also extend to any implementer of that
STANDARD or TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION for the purpose of using the SOFTWARE in
any compliant implementation unless (ii) the contributing MEMBER gives an irrevocable
undertaking in writing at the time of contribution that it is prepared to grant an irrevocable