Report of the Patent Advisory Group on the Widgets Updates Specification
Published on 8 October 2009
Published on 8 October 2009
In reponse to Apple's withdrawal of IP, the Widgets Updates PAG concluded that the US Patent Nr. 5,764,992 (hereinafter also called 'the 992 patent') is considered not essential according to Section 8, Definition of Essential Claims of the W3C Patent Policy.
The Patent Advisory Group concluded that the inventive step claimed by US Patent Nr. 5,764,992 lies in the fact that the software program can update itself absolutely independent of functions performed by any resource external to the current software program. As the Widgets 1.0: Updates Draft uses an update-manager throughout the Specification, such self-updating does not occur.
The W3C Patent Policy sets a goal for Working Groups to produce specifications implementable under the W3C Royalty free terms. Patent Advisory Groups are W3C's response to a threat to this goal, and are created when such threats occur. They examine the situation, provide a platform for negotiations, and end with a recommendation to W3C and the Working Group. This report concludes the activities of the Widgets Updates PAG.
The W3C Web Applications (WebApps) Working Group is chartered to create specifications that enable improved client-side application development on the Web, including specifications both for application programming interfaces (APIs) for client-side development and for markup vocabularies for describing and controlling client-side application behavior. Apple Inc. participates in the Web Application Working Group. By participating in WebApps, Apple has given Royalty Free commitments according to the W3C Patent Policy on all Specifications produced under the Webapps charter.
On 5 March 2009 and in application of the exclusion rights given by the W3C Patent Policy, Apple excluded US Patent Nr. 5,764,992 from its Royalty Free commitment given to participate in the Working Group. Only the Widgets Updates Specification is touched by Apple's exclusion. The exclusion triggered the chartering of a Widgets Updates Patent Advisory Group (PAG). An advanced notice of the Widgets Updates PAG launch was announced on 19 March 2009 [member only]. The PAG was launched on 27 March 2009 [member only]. The PAG was further extended on 19 June 2009 [member only].
This section traces the necessary procedural steps followed by the patent exclusion and the creation of the Patent Advisory Group.
The WebApps Working Group is chartered until 30 June 2010. Part of its charter is to produce the Widgets 1.0: Updates Specification. The Widgets 1.0: Updates Specification had its First Public Working Draft published on 07 October 2008. This triggers a period of 150 days for exclusions, which ran until Friday, 6 March 2009. Apple excluded US Patent Nr. 5,764,992 on Thursday 5 March 2009.
The Group was correctly chartered. The First Public Working Draft of the Widgets 1.0: Updates Specification was correctly announced and triggered the above exclusion opportunity. Apple, as a Member of the WebApps Working Group, was entitled to an exclusion statement. Apple's exclusion statement was issued in time and is valid.
The Widgets Updates Patent Advisory Group was validly set up on 27 March 2009 according to the rules set forth in Section 7 of the Patent Policy and in conformance with the rules set forth in the Procedures for Launching and Operating a Patent Advisory Group. The PAG held teleconferences on
Apple attended the first call and recused themselves from any further participation or comment. Several subsequent attempts to get statements about the 992 patent were unfruitful. The PAG created a page on prior art from contributions of its members. On 12 June 2009 the PAG issued a call for prior art. Subsequently, the PAG received feedback on its archived public mailing list. Some of the feedback was received by the chair only and was sent to the public mailing list without identifying the contributor.
In conclusion: Apple made a valid exclusion and the PAG was created following the relevant rules. There were no issues with the procedure.
Taking into account the wide variety of information made available to the PAG, the following recommendations are given:
widgetupdate
function name to updateinfoupdate element
name to updatedescriptionIt is conceivable that the automatic update model could be subject to a man-in-the-middle-attack...to say
Because it is not self-contained, it is conceivable that the automatic update model could be subject to a man-in-the-middle attack...
widget.update()checkForUpdate()Updating
via widget.update() to Update-checking via
checkForUpdate[Uu]pdating strategyto
[Uu]pdate-checking strategy
The PAG analyzed all input from various channels and listed them on the page for prior art. Additionally, the PAG evaluated the Prosecution documents of the US Patent Nr. 5,764,992. From this information, the PAG concluded that any conforming implementation of the Widgets 1.0: Updates Specification not necessarily infringes US Patent No 5,764,992 and that this patent thus is considered not Essential in the sense of the W3C´s Patent Policy.
In the Prosecution documents of the US
Patent Nr. 5,764,992, the examiner issued a first rejection against the 992
patent application. After some negotiation between Apple and the USPTO, the
USPTO accepted to grant the patent only on the condition that the software
application program to be updated can replace itself with an updated version
independent of any external mechanisms
. Detecting
,
determining
and replacing
and subsequently executing
are
well-known according to the examiner. Thus patent 992 covers only those cases,
in which all those steps are executed by the software application itself.
Various other sources provided in response to the call for prior art, going
back to as far as the Seventies, confirm this reading. The earliest technology
(about 1978) reported was the firmware
update of a Programmable Logic Controller in industry controls. The PAG did
not examine whether those reports of prior art could potentially invalidate the
patent 992. The PAG only considered that in light of the prior art received, in
light of the prosecution documents and in light of the Widget Updates
Specification Draft of 07 October 2008, the 992 patent is considered not
essential, thus not necessarily infringed by a conforming implementation of the
aforementioned Draft.
In fact, the whole concept of widgets, javascript and Web 2.0 wasn't known in 1995 when the patent was filed. Widgets are not self contained software applications. They depend on the web platform thus on either an update manager or a browser that serves as a platform. A widget designed in accordance with Widget Updates Specification Draft of 07 October 2008 is always dependent on an external resource such as a browser or some other update manager. But updating the widget is not updating the browser software. A logical implication of this architecture is that a widget compliant with the Widget Updates Specification Draft of 07 October 2008 will not infringe the 992 patent as it is impossible for a widget to replace or update itself without the aid of an external mechanism.
Consequently, the 992 patent is considered not essential to the Specification examined.
THESE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PATENT ADVISORY GROUP ARE NOT LEGAL ADVICE. NEITHER W3C NOR ANY OF THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE WIDGET UPDATES PATENT ADVISORY GROUP OR THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYERS TAKES ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY, LEGAL CORRECTNESS OR OTHER FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS REPORT. ESPECIALLY, NEITHER W3C NOR ANY OF THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE WIDGET UPDATES PATENT ADVISORY GROUP OR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYERS MAKE ANY REPRESENTATION THAT FOLLOWING THE RECOMMENDATIONS HERE WILL AVOID AN INFRINGEMENT OF THE US PATENT NR. 5,764,992 OR ANY OTHER PATENT MENTIONED IN THE REPORT OR THE PAGE ON PRIOR ART.