# Patent position and non-assertion pledge

> Status: v1.0 (2026-07-20). Published because copyright licences alone do not tell an
> implementer whether they are safe from patent claims. Licence: CC-BY-4.0. Nothing here is
> legal advice.

## Why this document exists

The standard's artifacts are licensed under Apache-2.0 (schema, catalogue, code lists, profiles,
validator) and CC-BY-4.0 (documentation). Those licences cover **copyright**. They do not, on
their own, tell an implementer where they stand on **patents**. Implementers reasonably ask
before committing engineering effort. This document answers.

## The pledge

The maintainers (AskVouch Ltd) irrevocably pledge, for as long as they steward the standard and
in respect of any patent claims they own or control:

1. **Non-assertion.** The maintainers will not assert any such patent claim against any party
   for making, using, selling, offering for sale, importing or distributing an implementation of
   this standard, to the extent that implementation conforms to a published version of the
   standard.
2. **Scope.** The pledge covers claims necessarily infringed by implementing the normative
   artifacts named in the charter (§1 of `CHARTER.md`). It does not cover functionality outside
   the standard, and it does not cover the maintainers' own product beyond its role as a
   conforming implementation.
3. **Defensive suspension.** The pledge may be suspended in respect of any party that asserts a
   patent claim against the maintainers, or against any other implementer, alleging that a
   conforming implementation of this standard infringes that party's patent. This is the only
   condition on the pledge.
4. **Successors.** The maintainers will require any successor steward, including a standards
   body receiving the work under `CHARTER.md` §7, to maintain a pledge at least as permissive.

The Apache-2.0 licence grant applying to the code and schema artifacts operates in addition to
this pledge, including its own patent grant and its patent-litigation termination clause.

## Contributions

Contributors grant the same patent terms for their contributions. `CONTRIBUTING.md` states this
as a condition of contribution. The maintainers do not require a separate contributor licence
agreement for v0; if a receiving standards body requires one, that requirement will be published
before it applies.

## Known position

The maintainers hold **no patents and no patent applications** covering the standard's normative
artifacts as at the date above. This section is updated if that changes.

## Contact

`ask@askvouch.com`.