sweet. the W3C has implement a royalty-free standards policy. Its an interesting take - you can patent a part of a web standard, but you cannot charge money for it or add any other restrictions. Its a great move on the part of the W3C because people would start boycotting standards that are patent encumbered.

"In order to promote the widest adoption of Web standards, W3C seeks to issue Recommendations that can be implemented on a Royalty-Free (RF) basis. Subject to the conditions of this policy, W3C will not approve a Recommendation if it is aware that Essential Claims exist which are not available on Royalty-Free terms."