Subject: PWG-ANNOUNCE> Letter of Assurance for Patent Essential to IPP MailTo received from Ricoh

From: Harry Lewis <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2005 16:47:13 -0600

The PWG has received a Letter of Assurance from Ricoh Company, Ltd. which 
states that US Patent 6889263 is essential to the IPP MailTo delivery 
method of event notification. 
Please see  
ftp://ftp.pwg.org/pub/pwg/general/loa/ipp/20050721174635246.pdf  for 
further details including the patent holders position on licensing.

Because of the legal nature of patents, I will include a reminder that 
standard IEEE policy regarding communications about patents includes the 
following:

1. We do not discuss the validity or essential nature of patents or their 
claims in our standards forums or e-mail
2. We do not discuss the costs related to use of a specific patent
3. We do not discuss licensing terms or conditions other than to 
acknowledge the patent holders stated position regarding licensing
4. We do not discuss ongoing or threatened litigation
5. We do not remain silent, rather, we formally object if inappropriate 
topics are discussed. 

There may be discussion about the direct effect this LOA may have on the 
IPP MailTo working draft and its status progressing toward PWG Candidate 
Standard. Please use the [email-masked] mail list for any such discussion 
(not PWG-ANNOUNCE).
---------------------------------------------- 
Harry Lewis 
IBM STSM
Chairman - IEEE-ISTO Printer Working Group
http://www.pwg.org
IBM Printing Systems 
http://www.ibm.com/printers
303-924-5337
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