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Add back the patents clause controversy into its own section |
Add the Facebook response to the patent controversy |
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<blockquote>''"The license granted hereunder will terminate, automatically and without notice, if you (or any of your subsidiaries, corporate affiliates or agents) initiate directly or indirectly, or take a direct financial interest in, any Patent Assertion: (i) against Facebook or any of its subsidiaries or corporate affiliates, (ii) against any party if such Patent Assertion arises in whole or in part from any software, technology, product or service of Facebook or any of its subsidiaries or corporate affiliates, or (iii) against any party relating to the Software. [...] A "Patent Assertion" is any lawsuit or other action alleging direct, indirect, or contributory infringement or inducement to infringe any patent, including a cross-claim or counterclaim."<ref>{{cite web|title=Additional Grant of Patent Rights Version 2|url=https://github.com/facebook/react/blob/b8ba8c83f318b84e42933f6928f231dc0918f864/PATENTS|website=GitHub}}</ref>''</blockquote>
This unconventional clause caused some controversy and debate in the React user community, because it may be interpreted to empower Facebook to revoke the license in many scenarios, for example if Facebook sues the licensee prompting them to take "other action" by publishing the action on a blog or elsewhere. Many expressed concerns that Facebook could unfairly exploit the termination clause or that integrating React into a product might complicate a startup company's future acquisition.<ref>{{cite web|title=A compelling reason not to use ReactJS|first=Austin|last=Liu|url=https://medium.com/bits-and-pixels/a-compelling-reason-not-to-use-reactjs-beac24402f7b|website=Medium}}</ref>
Based on community feedback, Facebook updated the patent grant in April 2015 to be less ambiguous and more permissive.<ref{{cite web|title=Updating Our Open Source Patent Grant|url=https://code.facebook.com/posts/1639473982937255/updating-our-open-source-patent-grant/}}</ref>
==References==
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