Hi Noel, "Affiliate" is overly broad, and undefined and therefore not supported by BCP79. It cannot be reasonably expected of an IETF participant to have an objective view of with whom he/she is affiliated. One (the most?) common definition of "affiliate" used in contracts results in a sweep in of any corporate entity that is controlled, or controls, another entity, including individuals. Recursively. As there is no definition of "affiliate" in BCP79, we have to assume such a common definition. Now, I'm affiliated with IEEE, and so is John Doe, who controls a patent of which I believe it may be necessary to practice a draft. I happen to be aware of John Doe's patent because John Doe is a former colleague of mine, but other than that, and our IEEE memberships, there Is no other connection between John Doe and myself. I surely do not have an disclosure obligation based on our joint affiliation with IEEE? Using affiliate would IMO be a policy change through the back door. I would rather strongly suggest to stick with vocabulary available in BCP79. The formulation used in BCP79 is "employer or sponsor". Wordcount +=2 :-( Stephan On 6.22.2012 08:12 , "Peter Saint-Andre" <stpeter@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >On 6/22/12 8:45 AM, Stephan Wenger wrote: >> On 6.22.2012 07:14 , "Peter Saint-Andre" <stpeter@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> >> >> >> Anything that you write, say, or discuss in the IETF, formally or >> informally, either at an IETF meeting or in another IETF venue >> such as a mailing list, is an IETF contribution. If you believe that >> any contribution of yours is covered by a patent or patent >> application made by you or your employer, you must disclose >> that fact or arrange for your employer to disclose it on your behalf. >> >> >> s/made by you or your employer/controlled by you or your employer/ >> >> And I would remove "on your behalf", as it a) adds to the word count, >>and >> b) could be viewed as a requirement to fill in the section III of the >> disclosure form--something that is neither common practice nor, IMO, >>overly >> useful. > >You're right on both counts. So (and addressing Randy's concern): > > Anything that you write, say, or discuss in the IETF, formally or > informally, either at an IETF meeting or in another IETF venue > such as a mailing list, is an IETF contribution. If you believe > that any contribution of yours is covered by a patent or patent > application controlled by you or an organization with which you > are affiliated, you must disclose it or arrange for that > organization to disclose it. > >Peter > >-- >Peter Saint-Andre >https://stpeter.im/ > > > > >