Huge ramifications.

Huge ramifications.

Posted Apr 23, 2006 14:16 UTC (Sun) by kleptog (subscriber, #1183)
In reply to: Huge ramifications. by Sombrio
Parent article: Write Free Software, Pay $203,000 to Patent Holder (Right to Create)

It's moments like these that I wonder about the following clause in the EPLA (European Patent Litigation Agreement) which goes as follows:

Article 35 Limitations to the effects of the European patent

The rights conferred by a European patent shall not extend to:
(a) acts done privately and for non-commercial purposes
(b) acts done for experimental purposes relating to the subject-matter of the patented invention

This clause has existed in several agreements but it unclear if it exists in an agreement that actually passed. Also, the phrase "non-commercial" is not defined, but the obvious definition would mean open-source is safe by definition, although distributors who collect money would have a problem.

http://www.european-patent-office.org/epo/epla/pdf/agreem...

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