Patent Policy

Patent Policy Summary

  • All JEDEC Member Companies and their Representatives agree to abide by the JEDEC patent policy. 
  • The commitment applies to all entities, including non-committee members, that have a Representative present at any point in a meeting of a JEDEC Committee or Task Group.
  • The commitment continues as long as the Committee Member or Representative is a member of or a participant in a particular JEDEC Committee.
  • For the purposes of the patent policy, "Committee"  refers to the full committee, except for those committees that have subcommittees.  In that context, “committee” refers to any group that has a separate scope.
  • All companies and their representatives are required to disclose all known Potentially Essential Patent Claims owned or controlled by the company. 
  • No company has a duty to conduct a search for Potentially Essential Patent Claims.
  • All companies, as a condition of committee membership or participation, agree to license their Essential Patent Claims on RAND terms and conditions.
  • The licensing assurance must indicate that the patent holder (or third party authorized to make assurances on its behalf) will include in any documents transferring ownership of patents subject to the assurance, provisions sufficient to ensure (i) that the commitments in the assurance are binding on the transferee, and (ii) that the transferee will similarly include appropriate provisions in the event of future transfers with the goal of binding each successor-in-interest.
  • If a Member Company knows it would be unwilling to license its Essential Patent Claims on RAND terms, the member must notify the committee chair and withdraw from the committee within 120 days after giving the notice.  This option is not available to a Member Company with respect to its own Contribution. 
  • Companies and their representatives are required to use a standard form for the disclosures and assurances.
  • The disclosure and licensing obligations of companies and their representatives are limited to Standards developed in the particular JEDEC committees in which they are members or in which they participate.
  • The obligations apply to all entities, including non-committee members, that have a representative present at any point in a meeting of a JEDEC Committee or Task Group. 
  • Member Companies and their Representatives are strongly encouraged to review their current committee and subcommittee assignments, and ensure they are prepared to accept the commitments defined by the patent policy.

See Section 8.2 of JM21.

Patent Forms

In June 2010 JEDEC revised its Manual of Operation and Procedure, JM21. A major change in the document is a revision to the JEDEC patent policy and the addition of required forms for License Assurance/Disclosure and Notice of Refusal to Offer Licenses on RAND terms.

These forms are available in PDF format below and can be filled out electronically using Adobe Acrobat. You must then save the file to your computer and submit to JEDEC as instructed. 

Presentation

 View a presentation on the JEDEC patent policy.