Software patents and free software: Difference between revisions

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{{Computer programs, software and patent law}}

Opposition to [[software patents]] is widespread in the [[free software community]]. In response, various mechanisms have been tried to defuse the perceived problem.

==Positions from the community==

Community leaders such as [[Richard Stallman]],<ref>{{cite web

|url=http://www.ifso.ie/documents/rms-2004-05-24.html

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|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229064859/http://www.linuxformat.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=15#patents

|url-status=dead

}}</ref> [[Bruce Perens]],<ref>[http://perens.com/Articles/Patents.html /home/bruce/Patents.html<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070305130408/http://perens.com/Articles/Patents.html |date=2007-03-05 }}</ref> and [[Linus Torvalds]];<ref>{{cite web

|url=http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/openvoices/linus-torvalds-part-ii/

|title=Linux Foundation Interview with Linus Torvalds, mostly talking about software patents

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|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720010536/http://www.effi.org/patentit/patents_torvalds_cox.html

|url-status=dead

}}</ref> and companies such as [[Red Hat]],<ref>[http://www.redhat.com/legal/patent_policy.html redhat.com | Red Hat Patent Policy<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and [[MySQL]],;<ref>[http://www.mysql.com/company/legal/patents.html MySQL AB :: MySQL Public Patent Policy<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705175742/http://www.mysql.com/company/legal/patents.html |date=2008-07-05 }}</ref> and community groups such as [[Free Software Foundation Europe|FSFE]],<ref>[http://fsfeurope.org/projects/swpat/ FSFE - Software Patents in Europe<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and [[Irish Free Software Organisation|IFSO]],<ref>[http://ifso.ie/projects/swpats.html Software Patentability & EU Directive COD/2002/0047<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> all believe that patents cause problems for free software.

==Patent licensing==

Leading open-source figures and companies<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/66807|title = Red Hat urges patent office to deny most software patents|date = 29 September 2010}}</ref> have complained that software patents are overly broad and the [[USPTO]] should reject most of them. [[Bill Gates]] has said "If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today’s ideas were invented, and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.swpat.org/2010/06/late-comers-guide-what-is-bilski-anyway/|title=Late-comers guide: What is Bilski anyway? – End Software Patents|date=28 June 2010 }}</ref>

Leading open-source figures and companies<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/66807|title = Red Hat urges patent office to deny most software patents|date = 29 September 2010}}</ref> have complained that software patents are overly broad and the [[USPTO]] should reject most of them. [[Bill Gates]] has said "If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today’s ideas were invented, and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.swpat.org/2010/06/late-comers-guide-what-is-bilski-anyway/|title=Late-comers guide: What is Bilski anyway? – End Software Patents}}</ref>

==Problems for free software==

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"Patent retaliation" clauses are included in several [[free software licenses]]. The goal of these clauses is to create a penalty so as to discourage the licensee (the user/recipient of the software) from suing the licensor (the provider/author of the software) for [[patent infringement]] by terminating the license upon the initiation of such a lawsuit.

The [[Free Software Foundation]] included a narrow patent retaliation clause inEarly drafts 1 and 2 of version 3 of the GPL,[[GNU however,General thisPublic clauseLicense]] was(GPLv3) removedcontained inseveral draftpatent 3retaliation asclauses itsthat enforceabilityvaried andin effectivenessscope, wassome decidedof towhich bewere toolater dubiousremoved due to beconcerns worth theabout addedtheir complexityefficacy.<ref>{{cite web

|title=Richard Stallman speaking about GPLv3 in April 2007

|url=https://fsfe.org/activities/gplv3/brussels-rms-transcript.en.html#retaliation}}</ref> The final published version of GPLv3 contains a patent retaliation clause similar to those in the [[Apache License]] and [[Mozilla Public License]], which terminates rights granted by the license in response to litigation alleging patent infringement in the software.<ref>{{cite web |website=GNU Project |publisher=Free Software Foundation |url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#v3PatentRetaliation |title=GPL FAQ: Does GPLv3 have a 'patent retaliation clause'?}}</ref>

|url=https://fsfe.org/activities/gplv3/brussels-rms-transcript.en.html#retaliation}}</ref>

Examples of broader clauses are those of the [[Apache License]] and the [[Mozilla Public License]].

===Patent pools===

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|publisher=groklaw

| date=2007-10-11

| access-date=2007-10-12}}</ref><ref>The U.S. patent 5,072,412 concerns the desktop User Interface, see [https://wwwpatents.google.com/patents?id=3tUkAAAAEBAJ&dq=5,072,412patent/US5072412 here]</ref> However, IP Innovation LLC is a subsidiary of a company classified by some as a [[patent troll]],<ref>{{cite web

|url = http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS2013674721.html

|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130103223944/http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS2013674721.html

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Software Patents And Free Software}}

[[Category:Software patent law]]

[[Category:Free software culture and documents|Patents]]