Comment from:
Additional requirement: IPR freedom
Although OASIS rules allow alternatives, for a standardized office format, an additional requirement should be freedom from intellectual property right (e.g., patent) encumberences. Any vendor, proprietary or open source software, should be able to implement the format without royalty payments. Any contributing company should be required to verify that they will allow implementation of the standard royalty-free, and efforts should be made to ensure that the format avoids patents that have a reasonable chance of being found valid.
