Intellectual Property Policy & Procedures 

APTA has established policies and procedures for the conduct of the UTFS Task Force related to the treatment of intellectual property of those entities contributing to development of UTFS standards. The policy considers patents, copyrighted material, registered marks such as trademarks, and trade secrets.

All participants in the APTA UTFS program including but not limited to transit agencies, fare collection system suppliers, financial institutions, consultants and other third party application providers shall submit a Letter of Acknowledgement, which states that, on behalf of the Organization with which they are affiliated and/or themselves, they have received and reviewed the IP Policy, and acknowledge that their participation in the UTFS standards development process, and the standard(s) adopted in the course of this process, will be subject to the IP Policy.

Participation in the UTFS Task Force requires formal acknowledgement of understanding regarding the APTA IP Policy.

To provide a resource that helps participants understand the IP Policy and its implications, APTA has prepared a tutorial document hyperlinked in the table below. Also, the conduct of UTFS meetings and conference-calls are guided by APTA's IP Policy. Specifically, work group and committee chairs are required to abide by provisions specified in the Chair Guidelines Document , also hyperlinked in the table below. This document provides a script that articulates IP provisions that need to be communicated with participants at the beginning of meetings.

The documents contained in the table below are the official documents needed to ensure proper handling of intellectual property issues and some require entity signature as appropriate and as noted in the table below.

Document Name	Description	Comments
Intellectual Property (IP) Policy and Procedures	This document describes the APTA policies and procedures related to the intellectual policy interests of its participants and of the sponsoring organization (APTA).	This is a required document for the management of the UTFS Task Force and its development of fare card standards.
Letter of Acknowledgement about the UTFS IP Policy	The purpose of this letter formally recognizes and substantiates an entities understanding and knowledge of the APTA UTFS IP Policy	Each entity currently contributing to the UTFS Standards development effort or entities considering contributing must provide signature on this document to APTA for participation in UTFS standards development.
Letter of Assurance for Essential Patents and Copyrights	Claims of patents or copyrighted material that may be essential to the development of UTFS Standards.	This form shall be signed by all entities contributing to the development of the standard that have agreed to the provisions of the IP Policy and have IP essential to the standard.
Sample Copyright Clearance Letters	Provide legal assurance that copyrighted material contained within a UTFS standard can be used without infringement.	Submission of this form is required for all known copyrighted material and must be provided to APTA.
American Public Transportation Association Universal Transit Farecard Standards Task Force Bylaws	This is an official APTA document describing policies and procedures for the conduct and governance of the UTFS Task Force.	This document is a required APTA document and is currently tied to the APTA Intellectual Policy (IP) Policy and Procedures document.
APTA Universal Transit Farecard Standard Work Scope Specification - APTA UTFS-D-TC-01A-05	This is a specific document that defines the UTFS technical project scope as referenced by the IP Policy document.	The document provides technical development bounds for which the IP policy applies.
Intellectual Property Policy Tutorial	This is a PowerPoint presentation that provides a simple and straightforward discussion of the IP Policy and its implications.	This is a good reference document and is based on IEEE standards procedures.
Chair IP Policy Statement	UTFS group leaders and chairs are required to abide by the content of this document.	UTFS group leaders and chairs should have a copy of this document on hand during all conference calls and meetings of UTFS and who have essential IP contained within the UTFS standard.

 

Should you have questions regarding these documents or their use, please contact Martin P. Schroeder, P.E., APTA Sr. Program Manager for Rail Programs at 202-496-4885 or mschroeder@apta.com.