RFC 2786 vs. US 7,290,142

RFC 2786 describes using Diffie-Hellman to set the SNMPv3 privacy and
authentication keys. The RFC is dated March of 2000 and authored by
Michael C. StJohns.

US patent 7,290,142 describes the same Diffie-Hellman procedure (using
many of the same words). The patent was filed on September 22, 2000.
The inventor is listed as William H. Yost of Indianaplis, IN, and the
Assignee is Thomas Licensing, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.

Does anybody know the relatationship between these two documents?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

Cheers, Scott