European Telecommunications Standards Institute interim intellectual property rights policy The European Commission, DG IV, has published a notice concerning the interim intellectual property rights (IPRs) policy of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), following ETSI's submission of its IPRs policy to the Commission for clearance. ETSI's task ... The European Commission, DG IV, has published a notice concerning the interim intellectual property rights (IPRs) policy of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), following ETSI's submission of its IPRs policy to the Commission for clearance. ETSI's task is to establish common European standards in the telecommunications sector. The need for an interim IPR policy arose when the development and application of a given standard could be made impossible if the standard incorporated proprietary technology and the owner of that technology was not willing to make it available for third parties wishing to manufacture products complying with the standard. The ETSI interim policy was adopted by the ETSI 21st General Assembly of 22-23 November 1994. It contains the following provisions: - Provisions relating to ETSI members; - Provisions relating to members and non-members; - Provisions relating to ETSI and general issues. The Commission intends to take a favourable view towards the ETSI interim IPR policy. Before doing so it invites all third parties to submit its observations on the policy for consideration.
