Legal & Policies, Intellectual Policy
legal-policies2_shutterstock_1677538462.jpg

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (CIIP) POLICY FOR SAE ITC PROGRAMS AND AFFILIATES

SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (SAE ITC) is committed to ensuring respect for and protecting the legally recognized rights of all participants in SAE ITC Program Activities and protecting the processes and products produced by SAE ITC through its programs, committees, groups, conferences, or otherwise named teams working on behalf of industry under the auspices of SAE ITC or its Affiliates – no disclosure of confidential information or infringement of our own or others’ intellectual property rights.

DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES

Affiliate: An entity that owns, governs or controls, is owned, governed or controlled by or is or under common control governance or ownership with any SAE ITC Interested Party, where control is defined as the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of an entity, whether through ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise.

Confidential Information: includes, but is not limited to, information not generally known to the public, in spoken, printed, electronic or any other form or medium, relating directly or indirectly to: marketing and sales plans and proposals, market research, business and strategic planning, negotiations, know-how, trade secrets, databases, vendor information, financial information, marketing information, advertising information, pricing information, supplier lists and information, vendor lists, e-mail lists, market studies, sales information, revenue, customer notes, product and business plans, customer information, customer lists, client information, personnel information and client lists of the disclosing party, or its businesses.

Confidential Information does not include information that: (a) is or becomes publicly available through no act or omission of SAE ITC Interested Parties; (b) is regularly disclosed to third parties without restriction on disclosure; (c) is independently developed by the SAE ITC Interested Parties who had no access to such information; or (d) is already rightfully known to any SAE ITC Interested Party without nondisclosure obligations before it received such information.

Copyrights: A copyright protects original, authored, creative works that have been fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright protection is automatic upon creation. Thus, once an author has fixed the work in some medium; it is protected by copyright even if it has not been published. The exclusive rights provided by a copyright include protection against unauthorized printing, publishing, copying, selling, distributing, and/or performing of the copyrighted work. Copyrighted materials include not only traditional written works but also such things as, computer software, electronic files and publications, internet/website files and publications, databases, registries, multimedia, CD-ROM’s, videotapes, audiotapes, social media and training programs.

Contributions: there are two general classes of Contributions that may be submitted by Interested Parties:

Pre-existing material contributions:

  1. Uncontrolled – information shared without restrictions and/or materials readily available, without copyright in the public domain.
  2. Controlled – a preexisting work of authorship in fixed form (whether text, papers, presentations, drawing, tables, electronic transmission, video or other works subject to copyright or its equivalent in any jurisdiction) submitted during the development of any SAE ITC Content or Technical Report or in industry meetings (including face-to-face and electronic meetings). These materials may be included in Technical Reports subject to conditions specified by this policy and the applicable program documents.

Developed contributions and materials: materials made or developed by Interested Parties as part of the technical content development process (e.g., meetings). This may include written materials as well as all other kinds of content including verbal, visual, or electronic materials. Such materials developed during the technical content development process also may be included in Technical Reports or SAE ITC Content.

Intellectual Property: includes, but is not limited to, Patents, Trademarks and Service Marks, Copyrights and Trade Secrets, as defined in various federal and state statutes.

Member: A Member is any SAE Interested Party who has executed an SAE ITC Membership Agreement with SAE ITC.

Patents: A patent is a property right granted by the government to individuals who invent new and useful inventions. Patents may be granted on any new and useful process, machine, manufactured article, composition of matter, or any new and useful improvements thereof. During a patent’s limited term, its owner has the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale or importing the patented invention into the United States.

Patented Technology: Technology that is claimed in an issued or pending patent or for which the owner intends to seek patent protection.

Program Activity: Refers to all activities related to the development, adoption, publication, and/or distribution of SAE ITC Intellectual Property through any SAE ITC Interested Party including but not limited to face to face, electronic, or telephone meetings, written and electronic communications, and all other forms of communication or Contributions.

SAE ITC Interested Parties: SAE ITC Staff, Members and their Affiliates, officers, directors, participants, leased or contracted service providers and all others involved with the development, adoption, publication, and/or distribution of SAE ITC intellectual property through SAE ITC programs, committees, groups, conferences, affiliates, or otherwise named teams working on behalf of industry under the auspices of SAE ITC.

SAE ITC Staff: Refers to individuals in the direct, leased or subcontracted employ of SAE ITC or Affiliates for the purposes of this policy.

Technical Reports and SAE ITC Content: Documentation of broadly accepted engineering practices or specifications for a material, product, process, procedure or test method. Technical Reports as used in this policy covers all materials subject to copyright by SAE ITC and may be referred to, but not limited to, a variety of names such as standards, specifications, informational reports, best practices, recommended practices, magazines, books, courseware, exams, journals and meeting reports. Technical Reports may include but not limited to traditional written works, computer software, electronic files and publications, internet/website files and publications, databases, registries, multimedia, CD- ROM’s, videotapes, audiotapes, social media and training programs. All copyrightable material set forth in this definition, collectively, are the “SAE ITC Content”.

Trademark and Service Mark: A trademark is either a word, phrase, symbol or design, or combination of words, phrases, symbols, emblem or designs, which identifies and distinguishes the source of goods or services from one party from those of others. A service mark is managed the same as a trademark except it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark but not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling them under a non-confusing mark.

Trade Secrets: Trade Secrets are not applicable to SAE ITC as a non-profit organization. Members are discouraged from sharing Trade Secrets as Contributions to SAE ITC programs.

DETAILS/CLARIFICATION

For purposes of this Policy, the phrase “includes the use of patented technology” and variants thereof mean that the technology is referenced in a Technical Report, proposed Technical Report or that compliance with or implementation of the Technical Report or any other SAE ITC Content would, as a practical matter, require the use of the technology.

For the purposes of this Policy, the phrase “require the use of copyrighted subject matter” and variants thereof, mean that compliance with or implementation of the Technical Report or SAE ITC Content would, as a practical matter, require the use of the copyrighted subject matter (e.g., computer programs or interface protocols).

PURPOSE

This policy defines the requirements for SAE ITC and all SAE Interested Parties regarding discussion, management, ownership and license of Confidential Information and Intellectual Property.

SAE ITC has adopted the following Confidential Information and Intellectual Property (“CIIP”) Policy to ensure that, subject to its terms and conditions: (i) SAE ITC programs understand and properly manage CIIP, (ii) SAE ITC programs have freedom to use the processes, products or otherwise specified deliverables created by the applicable Interested Parties; and (iii) Intellectual Property rights will be granted to SAE ITC for purposes of such use.

APPLICABILITY

This policy applies to SAE ITC and all SAE Interested Parties. This policy applies to all SAE ITC Intellectual Property and SAE ITC Content (“SAE ITC IP”). It also applies to the protection of Members Confidential Information and Intellectual Property, including but not limited to inventions, patents and personal data (“Member CIIP”).

This policy applies to all SAE ITC and Affiliates’ associated marks, including but not limited to the SAE ITC logo, SAE ITC letterhead, SAE ITC emblem and SAE ITC program and Affiliate logos, letterheads, and emblems (“SAE ITC Marks”).

The rules and requirements of this Policy become effective after the creation date of this policy and all revisions, amendments, or other changes effective upon the revision date of this Policy. If a conflict arises between the CIIP rules and requirements of existing programs that predate the creation date of this policy, those program rules and requirements shall take precedence. Program policies and procedures will be periodically reviewed to identify, mitigate conflicts, and align policies and procedures on a go-forward basis.

RULES AND REQUIREMENTS

The Intellectual Property rights of SAE ITC comprise four types of intellectual property: Copyrights, Trademarks, Service Marks, and Patents. Development of intellectual property, especially as related to Technical Reports, shall be in accordance with the applicable program or Affiliate policies and procedures. Interested parties may not adopt any policies in program charter or policy documents that are inconsistent with the SAE ITC policies, including this CIIP Policy. Except as otherwise provided by this CIIP Policy, nothing presented to, or in connection with, the SAE ITC or otherwise, is intended to grant any intellectual property or intellectual property rights to the SAE ITC, any interested parties, or third party. Except as otherwise provided by this CIIP Policy or as otherwise required by law, nothing is intended to require any Interested parties to disclose any technology, proprietary information, know-how or any intellectual property right to any SAE ITC-related meeting or discussion. SAE Interested Parties shall comply with the SAE ITC’s governance policy on external communications and disclosures regarding SAE ITC IP.

COPYRIGHTS

Exclusivity of Rights

Copyrights cover all aspects of SAE ITC's business. Publications such as Technical Reports, magazines, books, courseware, exams, journals, and the like are all protected by Copyright. In addition, software, videotapes, audio tapes, social media and the SAE ITC websites, databases and registries also come within the protection accorded by Copyright. In summary, Copyright provides the exclusive right to SAE ITC to reproduce, display and distribute the works it publishes and accords SAE ITC the exclusive right to create derivative works from such copyrighted works. These exclusive rights are a substantial economic asset of SAE ITC and are not to be exploited or used by third parties without the specific consent of SAE ITC. SAE ITC has an extensive program for the licensing, distribution and sale of its Copyrighted works that is administered by the SAE ITC in accordance with this policy.

Acquisition of Rights by SAE ITC

SAE ITC respects the copyrights of third parties and does not publish works in which it does not own the copyright. In most cases, the works that SAE ITC typically publishes are authored by its members, volunteers, industry partners, staff, or third-party contractors. However, in those cases where SAE ITC desires to include content of third parties in its works, SAE ITC will obtain copyright ownership or permissions for such third-party content to be published distributed, and/or sold by SAE ITC.

Accordingly, it is necessary to ensure copyright ownership by SAE ITC of all works that are to be published by SAE ITC. SAE ITC has a number of agreements for acquiring such copyright with employers of members who contribute to the efforts of a committee, or author a paper or prepare a software program. However, this is not always the case. Accordingly, it is incumbent upon all SAE ITC Interested Parties to assure that documents or other types of works that are to be published by the SAE ITC have proper Copyright assignment forms prior to publication. (Note: some programs such as ARINC IA treat all information shared in meetings, regardless of marking as publicly disclosed and assigned copyright to SAE ITC.)

Responsibilities of SAE ITC Staff

  • SAE ITC Staff shall also be familiar with and comply with confidentiality, conflict of interest and intellectual property agreements as required by the employee handbook and employment policies.
  • SAE ITC Staff shall also be familiar with all other SAE ITC policies and procedures related to CIIP.

Responsibilities of SAE Interested Parties

  • All SAE Interested Parties shall familiarize themselves with SAE ITC’s CIIP policy related to Copyrights, Patents, Service marks and Trademarks which are found in this document (and as amended from time to time). By participating in any Program Activity, including submitting material in relation to the meeting or any industry activity related thereto, you or your representative will be deemed to confirm that you understand and accept the SAE ITC policies and agree to comply with same on behalf of yourself and any company or other organization in whose behalf you are acting.
  • Each Interested Party acknowledges and understands that through such participation they may make Contributions to a resulting output (a “Collaborative Work”). To ensure that such Collaborative Work and the Intellectual Property rights associated therewith will be available to society and the industries that SAE ITC serves, each SAE Interested Party agrees: (1) to avoid knowingly incorporating into the Collaborative Work any copyrighted or proprietary material of a third party without such third party's consent; (2) that any Collaborative Work developed for SAE ITC shall constitute a "work made for hire" as defined by the U.S. Copyright Act; and (3) to transfer and assign to SAE ITC any right, title or interest in such Collaborative Work and any IP rights associated therewith. As a result, all rights, title, and interest in and to the resulting Collaborative Work, and the copyrights thereto, will be and are owned by SAE ITC.
  • Controlled Contributions shall be appropriately marked, and agreement reached on SAE ITC rights, usage and protection requirements prior to sharing of such information.
  • All SAE Interested Parties must acknowledge SAE ITC’s CIIP Policy and the fact that all material, minutes, draft and released Technical Reports become the copyrighted property of SAE ITC through one or more means:
    • Completion of a signed Copyright Agreement acknowledging that the Technical Report is a work made for hire pursuant to the US Copyright Act. See Appendix CC for example of a) Program Work- Made-for-Hire and b) Third Party Work-Made-for-Hire.
    • Signing the Program Activity attendance roster at meetings which contains a copy of the copyright policy acknowledgement statement.
    • Signing SAE ITC membership or sponsorship agreements which refer to compliance with SAE ITC policies and procedures.
  • All parties participating in SAE ITC Program Activities are deemed to be aware of this policy, and by their participation alone, whether via meeting attendance or otherwise, shall be deemed to have accepted this policy as if they had signed an acknowledgement and agreement personally. All attendees or participants who are acting on your behalf (whether as an employee, consultant or otherwise) are authorized to commit to the foregoing on your behalf via their participation.
  • All SAE Interested Parties must provide SAE ITC the necessary rights to collect and disseminate Technical Reports and SAE ITC Content. By participating in the Program Activity or making a contribution to same, each SAE Interested Party shall be deemed to have agreed to the provisions of this policy. SAE Interested Parties who do not wish to have their materials subject to this policy should refrain from participating in meetings supported by SAE ITC and from submitting materials or other content to Program Activity- related meetings or SAE ITC Staff.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Create Works

The U.S. Copyright Office has taken the position that it “will not register works produced by a machine or mere mechanical process that operates randomly or automatically without any creative input or intervention from a human author.” Because AI-generated content may not be protected by copyright, SAE ITC Interested Parties may not use AI to generate written text, images, or artwork, but may use AI for grammar and punctuation corrections.

Licensing of Rights by SAE ITC

Generally, SAE ITC does not permit the use or copying of unlicensed works. Permission to use, distribute, modify, translate or copy SAE ITC copyrighted works, including standards, checklists, technical reports, magazines, books, software and the like are available from SAE ITC through the applicable channels identified for each program and affiliate.

Confidential Information does not include information that: (a) is or becomes publicly available through no act or omission of SAE ITC or SAE Interested Party; (b) is regularly disclosed to third parties without restriction on disclosure; (c) is independently developed by the SAE ITC or SAE Interested Party who had no access to such information; or (d) is already rightfully known to SAE ITC or SAE Interested Party without nondisclosure obligations before it received such information.

TADEMARKS AND SERVICEMARKS

The Trademarks and Service Marks of SAE ITC are valuable assets that distinguish the services and products of SAE ITC. It is important that these Marks be respected and used properly.

Certification and Conformance

Unless a product or service has passed a conformance, certification, and/or accreditation test or audit sponsored by SAE ITC, it is inappropriate and improper to use an SAE ITC mark in connection with such product or service to imply that it has been certified by SAE ITC. Any marketing or advertisement of a product or service claiming conformance to an SAE ITC standard, specification, or technical report shall indicate the basis of such conformance and shall not imply that SAE ITC has authorized or approved such claim, unless the conformance testing is part of an SAE ITC conformance program permitting such claims.

Using SAE ITC Marks

When referring to services or products of SAE ITC, the SAE ITC trade and service marks are to be used as an adjective before a generic name (noun) of the product or service which is being referenced. If there are questions concerning the use of SAE ITC marks in publication, including the use of marks together with third-party trademarks or trade names, contact the SAE ITC through the SAE ITC Program Manager, Director or Executive Director.

Use of the SAE ITC Trademarks (Words and Logos)

SAE ITC trademarks and service marks (including program logos) should only be used in connection with SAE ITC products, programs or services, or officially sponsored conferences or events. Guidelines for the use of the SAE ITC logo is available by contacting info@sae-itc.org.

Use of SAE ITC Letterhead

Use of the SAE ITC Letterhead and or SAE ITC trademarks and service marks on non- SAE ITC documents by SAE ITC contributors is not permitted unless such person has been authorized by SAE ITC. SAE ITC authorized program, committee or workgroup letterhead paper is provided to specifically designated personnel for official SAE ITC use only.

Using Third-Party Marks

Using the trade or service marks of other organizations in Technical Reports, publications and technical papers should be avoided where possible. Nevertheless, if the use of a third-party trade or service mark is important to the substance of the publication, one should adhere to the same standards of use as with an SAE ITC mark; that is, to use it as an adjective in front of the generic name (noun) of the product or service (e.g., VELCRO fastener). An asterisk (*) must be used in conjunction with the third-party mark, with a footnote indicating the ownership of the mark. If possible, standards and specifications should use the generic description of products to refer to their applicability or suitability for use in conformance to the requirements of such technical report.

PATENTS

It has been traditionally the position of SAE to avoid the use of patented technology in technical reports. However, with the advent of more complex technologies, it is not always possible to provide technical reports that meet today's needs without incorporating technologies that are patented. Accordingly, SAE ITC Technical Reports or standards may include the known use of Standard Essential Patent(s) (“SEPs”), including patent applications, if there is in the opinion of the committee developing the Technical Report or standard, technical justification for inclusion of the technology disclosed and/or claimed in the SEPs; provided, that SAE ITC receive assurance from the patent holder that it will license third parties under reasonable terms and conditions for the purpose of implementing the Technical Report or standard. This assurance shall be provided without coercion and prior to the approval of the Technical Report or standard, or reaffirmation when a patent becomes known after the initial approval of the Technical Report or standard. Written assurance shall be provided using examples from Appendix AA to SAE ITC agreement.

A general disclaimer to the effect that the patent holder will not enforce any of its present or future patent(s) whose claims would be necessarily infringed by implementation of the proposed SAE ITC Technical Report or standard against any person or entity implementing the mandatory provisions of the Technical Report or standard to effect compliance or; 

A statement by the patent holder that a license will be made available to any person or entity without compensation or under fair, reasonable and non- discriminatory terms and conditions. 

SAE Interested Parties and SAE ITC are not required to search or review their respective patent portfolios or any of their other intellectual property rights in order to identify any intellectual property rights, including any patents, that cover or are otherwise implicated by any draft or published SAE ITC Content/Technical Reports of any SAE ITC program.

SAE Interest Parties and SAE ITC shall disclose any patents of which they are personally aware and reasonably believe would be necessarily infringed by implementing the requirements of any SAE ITC Content/Technical Reports.

PROCEDURE FOR LICENSING SAE ITC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TO THIRD PARTIES

SAE ITC Intellectual Property may be licensed for use by third parties. Although each licensing situation is different, in general all intellectual property licenses should be:

  • Limited: Various limits on use, form of use, duration, and/or geographic area will normally apply.
  • Revocable: SAE ITC can revoke the license for violation of its terms or, if applicable, at its option.
  • Non-exclusive: SAE ITC can grant licenses to use the same property to multiple parties.
  • Non-transferable: The license holder may not transfer the license to other parties.
  • Non-sub-licensable: The license holder may not sub-license the property.
  • Non-assignable: The license holder may not assign the license to purchasers, successors and merger partners without the permission of SAE ITC.
  • In licensing the use of SAE ITC Intellectual Property, it is prudent to retain the right of final inspection and/or approval of the use. All licenses to reproduce SAE ITC trademarks must contain quality provisions. These provisions are necessary to ensure the licensed mark is used appropriately and, in the case of registered marks, to preserve SAE ITC registration rights. It is customary to charge a license fee for the use of SAE ITC Intellectual Property. The amount will depend on specific circumstances.

Copyrighted Works

Licenses to reproduce or otherwise use material copyrighted by SAE ITC are granted by authorized staff members of SAE ITC.

SAE ITC Trademarks

Licenses to reproduce or otherwise use SAE ITC, Program and Affiliate Trademarks are granted by authorized staff members of SAE ITC.

Use of the SAE ITC Trademark

The SAE ITC Trademark, with its variants, is the primary identifier of SAE ITC, its products and services. The SAE ITC, Program and Affiliates Trademarks may only be used by SAE ITC in connection with its products, services and activities. Permission may be granted to other organizations to use or reproduce the logo where such reproduction (a) promotes or publicizes SAE ITC as an organization, or (b) promotes or publicizes an SAE ITC product, activity or service. In any trademark license, or other grant of the right to use these marks, SAE ITC retains the exclusive right to approve the use.

Individual members may not reproduce the Trademarks for their individual purposes. A member who wishes to indicate their membership should use the text statement “Member of SAE ITC xxx Program (or Affiliate)”.

X