MBA supports the development of comprehensive and current intellectual property (IP) policies.

The issue of intellectual property rights has become very relevant to standards-setting bodies. In recent cases, participants in other standards-setting bodies have used the control of IP in anti-competitive ways that reduce the usability of the resulting voluntary standards. MBA promotes the use of best practices that feature transparency and disclosure of IP in the process of setting voluntary standards, particularly in the growth area of electronic mortgages.

IP rights establish ownership and other rights in software and business processes. As the law evolves in this area, MBA will monitor developments. Our goal is to ensure that MBA’s standards setting activities remain open and strike the appropriate balance between encouraging contributions of intellectual property to the standards-setting effort and promoting robust use of the standards by making them available on a royalty-free basis. This will further foster marketplace innovation, streamlining both business-to-business and consumer transactions.

A related issue is the ownership of data and databases. MBA will work to protect the rights of intermediaries in financial transactions. MBA also will monitor and provide feedback regarding IP legislation that impacts developing industry standards, best practices and policies. MBA further believes that its membership can benefit through increased education on IP and its application to the real-estate marketplace.