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Legal Information

OPC Foundation Process

OPC Foundation: Bylaws

The OPC Foundation Organization is governed by a set of bylaws. The OPC Foundation Bylaws can be found by clicking here.

 

OPC Foundation: Intellectual Property (IP) Policy

Since its inception, the OPC Foundation has sought to establish its specifications as an open and interoperable standard for worldwide use by all automation suppliers and end-users. To that end, the Foundation has adopted an Intellectual Property Policy for the potential interaction between the intellectual property rights of its own members or of third parties and the Foundation's draft or final specifications. All members of the OPC Foundation agree to the Intellectual Property Policy. The IP policy protects OPC Foundation members from Intellectual Property issues.

The IP policy includes an appendix that describes a step by step process that is followed when IP related issues arise. As part of this process, members are allowed to submit IP via an anonymous submission.

The following options are available for submission:

Send an email via a blind personal account to: Patents@opcfoundation.org.

Click here for an online anonymous submittal form.

Directly contact via phone any OPC Foundation staff.

If a submitter wishes to be notified and updated regarding the status of any submitted IP they need to provide contact information, instead of submitting it anonymously.

 

OPC Foundation: IP Policy Reminder For Meetings

The following text is provided at the beginning of all OPC related meetings as a reminder to committee member of their obligations with respect to IP:

OPC Foundation Working Group Members who have representation on any committee of the OPC Foundation agree and acknowledge that: (i) the OPC Foundation shall own all right, title and interest in all works, information, ideas, publications, reports, trade secrets, copyrights or other rights of property, either personal of intellectual, arising out of the work and/or proceedings of any such committee; (ii) no proprietary information shall be disclosed to the OPC Foundation or any committee without the appropriate consent of its owner; and (iii) no work or proceedings of any such committee shall be disclosed to any outside third party or any other member prior to the publication of such work by the committee.

Prior to meetings, OPC Foundation Working Group Members are reminded of the obligations of the OPC Foundation IP Policy and are invited to refer to the OPC Foundation Intellectual Property Policy for further details regarding obligations with respect to disclosure and ownership of intellectual property arising from OPC Foundation activities and intellectual property that is essential to OPC specifications, technology or standards.

All meeting attendees are required to acknowledge this message at the start of any meeting.

 

OPC Foundation: Intellectual Property (IP) Policy Revisions

The 1996 previous version of the OPC Foundation IP Policy can be found here.