Legal Info
INCITS Antitrust Guidelines
ITI
counsel developed the INCITS Antitrust Guidelines for the protection of
INCITS and INCITS Subgroup members on antitrust issues. INCITS and
INCITS Subgroup members must follow the INCITS Antitrust Guidelines.
Anticipate Risks
INCITS
and INCITS subgroup meetings must be conducted in a manner that avoids
the appearance of conduct which might violate the antitrust laws. The
harsh criminal penalties in the antitrust laws, for individuals as well
as organizations, the high costs of defending antitrust suits, the
diversion of resources from our important missions, and the risk of
liability together mandate an understanding of, and respect for, the
antitrust laws by INCITS and its members. Our objective is to create a
climate where antitrust risks are both anticipated and avoided.
Consult Counsel
Legal
counsel should be consulted prior to any discussion of actions which
the staff or INCITS believes could raise antitrust issues, or which seem
in any way to be questionable or out of the ordinary. It is counsel's
job to advise INCITS on any matters that have legal significance. It is
always better to ask.
Notice and Agenda
Each
INCITS or INCITS subgroup meeting must be preceded by a notice to the
members of the committee with a draft agenda. As required by INCITS
procedures, the agenda must be approved at the beginning of the meeting
and followed.
Conduct of Meetings
INCITS
policy requires the full-time attendance of a person familiar with the
antitrust guidelines (e.g., staff, trained officer, INCITS liaison). All
participants should be afforded an opportunity to present their views.
Acting on behalf of INCITS, members have the responsibility to terminate
any discussion, seek counsel's advice or, if necessary, terminate any
meeting if the discussion might be construed to raise questions under
the INCITS antitrust guidelines.
Minutes of Meetings
After
each INCITS or INCITS subgroup meeting, concise minutes must be
prepared that accurately describe the actions taken, and where
appropriate, any rationale or additional pertinent discussion. These
minutes must be prepared by a member of the INCITS staff or someone
designated by an INCITS officer to prepare the minutes. When prepared by
someone other than a member of the INCITS staff, the draft minutes
shall be reviewed by the INCITS staff prior to distribution to the
committee.
Sensitive Topics
With
rare exceptions that should be made only upon the advice of INCITS
counsel, there should never be discussion of the following topics at any
INCITS or an INCITS subgroup meeting:
- Any company's prices or pricing policies;
- Specific R&D, sales and marketing plans;
- Any company's confidential product, product development or production strategies;
- Whether certain suppliers or customers will be served;
- Prices paid to input sources; or
- Complaints about individual firms or other actions that might tend to hinder a competitor in any market.
Standards
In INCITS sponsored committees related to standards, all relevant
opinions should be considered and a sound technical basis for the INCITS
position should be articulated. When participating in other
standard-setting bodies on behalf of INCITS, INCITS representatives
should be guided by both the letter and the spirit of the established
procedures, which are designed to ensure that the process is open to all
interested parties and standards are based on objective technical
factors. INCITS members should voluntarily disclose any proprietary
interest they may have in proposed standards in order to reduce the risk
of antitrust liability.
Educational Presentations
Sharing
non-proprietary information among competitors is generally lawful.
Discussion should be limited to objectives, which promote overall
consumer welfare. Exchanging proprietary information may not be
appropriate, if the purpose or effect of the exchange is to lead to
diminished competition in the marketplace.
Patent Policy
As INCITS subscribes to the ANSI Patent Policy when developing American National Standards, a call for patents and pertinent issues is issued throughout the development of a project to determine if a proposed standard may require the use of a patented invention.
There is no objection in principle to drafting an American National Standard (ANS) in terms that include the use of an essential patent claim (one whose use would be required for compliance with that standard) if it is considered that technical reasons justify this approach. Participants in the ASD/ANSI standards development process are encouraged to bring patents with claims believed to be essential to the attention of the ANSI-Accredited Standards Developer (ASD).
INCITS encourages disclosure, where possible, of the existence of pending U.S. patent applications relating to the standard under development, and of any relevant unexpired foreign patents.
If such notice is received, INCITS seeks a statement that the patent holder will comply with the ANSI Patent Policy.
Please send the completed patent declaration form to the INCITS Secretariat at patents@standards.incits.org
Information for US Hosts of International Meetings
updated April 9, 2013
ANSI has provided the following information related to international delegates attending meetings in the United States:
- Checklist for US Hosts of Chinese Technical Experts (also relevant for expert from other countries)
- Visa One Pager - English and Chinese
- United States Visa System - Information for Experts from the People’s Republic of China Attending Meetings of the ISO and IEC Held in the United States
Letters of Invitation
ANSI , as the US
hosting body, will provide a letter of invitation for those delegates
requiring one. ANSI's ISO Team (ISOT) will provide a letter of
invitation upon receipt of the following information:
Designation of ISO or ISO/IEC JTC 1 meeting:
Name: (include male/female)
Organization:
Email:
Date of Birth:
Passport Number:
Requests should be sent to ANSI at isot@ansi.org by the ISO Member of the delegate requiring a letter of invitation (i.e. SAC for China, DSM for Malaysia).
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