Legal Documents

The following downloadable documents outline iNEMI's rules of operation, policies regarding anti-trust and intellectual property, project management documents plus our membership application.
 

By-Laws

The by-laws define the purpose of the organization, membership requirements, classes of membership, privileges of membership, the powers of the Council of Members and Board of Directors, election of the Board of Directors, officers of the corporation, and meeting protocols. Download iNEMI By-Laws (PDF).
 

Membership Application/Agreement

When an organization first joins iNEMI, it is asked to submit an application that includes a Commitment form (stating the organization's commitment to be an iNEMI participant), an Information Request form (providing contact information for the organization's first and alternate representatives), and a Membership Agreement (in which the organization agrees to become a Participating or Affiliate member and further agrees to abide by the terms of iNEMI's by-laws, Project Participation Agreement and iNEMI Intellectual Property Policy). Download Membership Application/Agreement form.
 

Project Participation Agreement

This document describes the general process for project formation, management, reporting, and closure. Customization of a particular project is allowed as part of the project-specific documents described below (Statement of Work, Project Statement, IP declarations). Download Project Participation Agreement.
 

Project Documentation

During initial launch of a project all members have the right to join as long as the appropriate documents have been executed. After formal project launch, members may still join a project if agreed to by founding project members (size of majority required is spelled out in the Project Statement).
 

Statement of Work (SOW)
Each project has an SOW, which sets out the scope of work of the project, provides background information and describes industry need for the project, defines the purpose of the project, identifies previous related work, describes advantages/benefits for participants, identifies potential participants, and anticipates time of completion. It also provides a detailed project plan, which outlines required resources, materials and processes, establishes a project schedule with milestones and addresses project monitoring. See an example of a Statement of Work.

Project Statement (PS)
This is the official document, signed by each participant’s senior management, committing the organization to the agreed-upon resource and time contributions for each project that a member agrees to participate in. It also provides the mechanism for declaring background technology and specifies how this technology will be shared or not shared with other project members. In addition, the PS defines information sharing for the project, determining whether project information will be shared outside of the project team (and, if so, with whom) and defines a publication approval process. Finally, it provides a date for transfer of publication rights to iNEMI, preferably less than 18 months. Review sample Project Statement.
 

iNEMI Intellectual Property (IP) Policy

Most iNEMI projects focus on implementation of existing technologies and solutions or on development of specifications for standards. However, Intellectual property (IP) may be developed within a project. Since our interest is to see solutions deployed in the marketplace, iNEMI retains no IP rights to any technology developed as a part of projects. Rather, IP is held by the organizations that developed it, and we rely on member companies to freely market the products and capabilities that result from collaborative efforts.

In some cases, project participants may share their proprietary IP as "background technology" for a project. iNEMI's comprehensive agreement allows for a number of alternatives for handling participants' IP. This can include agreement by participants to freely share technology and/or arrangements for special licensing by project participants. The vast majority of projects see IP retained by individual member companies. In all cases, iNEMI's IP policy creates the structure for the careful protection of member companies' confidential information as part of our deployment projects.  Download iNEMI IP Policy.
 

Anti-Trust Policy and Guidelines

From the date of our formation, iNEMI has required that all of our activities be conducted strictly in accordance with applicable antitrust laws. To help remain consistent with that policy, these Guidelines outline those areas of the antitrust laws that should be of particular concern to iNEMI and our members, the obvious dangers to avoid in order to minimize the risk of antitrust liability, and the policies and procedures to follow in order to comply with the law. These guidelines are not an all-encompassing delineation of potential antitrust problems and the means to avoid them. In instances of doubt, iNEMI members should always seek the assistance of legal counsel experienced in antitrust.  Download Anti-Trust Policies & Guidelines.
 

Trademarks and Trademark Policy

 The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative's name is a trademark and the iNEMI and iNEMI International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative logos are the registered trademarks of the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative. Members' rights to use these trademarks are defined in the Membership Agreement. All Member and third party names and logos displayed on the iNEMI website and in iNEMI documents (including without limitation the Roadmap and Project reports) are the trademarks and/or registered trademarks of each respective Member/third party used by iNEMI with the permission of such trademark owner and no rights for other Members or third parties to use such Member trademarks are granted or implied.