Ballot FORUM-036 – Adopt Invited Experts Policy

Result

• Ballot FORUM-036 Adopt Invited Experts Policy completed with result PASSED.

What the ballot adopts

• Establishes a formal Invited Experts Policy and a corresponding Invited Experts Agreement.
• The documents are described as drafted by the Forum’s IPR Subcommittee and modeled after the W3C approach.
• Purpose is to enable the Forum to receive input from individuals with unique expertise or academic background who are not affiliated with member organizations, while ensuring transparency, consistency, and compliance with the Forum’s IPR Policy.

Key elements described in the adopted artifacts (from linked diff)

• Invited Experts must agree to the Invited Experts Agreement before participating.
• Invited Experts are invited by a CAB Forum Chair, Vice Chair, or Working Group Chair.
• Invited Experts are generally limited to independent individuals or academics; the policy states that no individuals from current CAB Forum Member companies or organizations may be Invited Experts.
• Invited Experts do not have voting rights and cannot hold CAB Forum leadership positions or working group leadership positions.
• Invited Experts are subject to CAB Forum processes, antitrust laws, and the Code of Conduct.
• The Invited Experts Agreement is described as a binding contract between the signing Invited Expert and Members of the CAB Forum.
• The Invited Experts Policy includes Intellectual Property obligations, including a grant of patent license and a grant of copyright license aligned with the CAB Forum IPR Policy.

Approval procedure and IPR review

• Discussion period: Start time 2025-06-25 17:00 UTC; end time 2025-07-02 17:00 UTC or later.
• Voting period: Start time 2025-07-02 17:00 UTC; end time 2025-07-09 17:00 UTC.
• Bylaws requirements were stated as MET, including:
  • Certificate Issuer category: two-thirds (2/3) or more of votes cast in favor.
  • Certificate Consumer category: at least fifty percent (50%) plus one (1) of votes cast in favor.
  • At least one (1) Voting Member in each category voting in favor.
  • Quorum was 8 for this ballot.
• The ballot page states there is no modification of a guideline, therefore there will be no IPR review.