Open source must be able to deal with patent licenses if necessary

Posted Oct 19, 2010 13:35 UTC (Tue) by Wol (subscriber, #4433)
In reply to: Open source must be able to deal with patent licenses if necessary by FlorianMueller
Parent article: Open Standards in Europe: FSFE responds to BSA letter

Point is, (a) we don't know what the agreements were, and (b) there are patent licences that are compatible with Free Software.

Troll: "That's a nice product you've got there. Don't you think you should licence our patents?"

Free Software Company (FSC): "That's a nice patent portfolio you've got there. Do you really think a nice shark like you should be swimming with the piranhas?"

Negotiate ... negotiate ... negotiate

"This agreement between Troll and FSC hereby grants FSC a royalty-free sublicensable grant to use any and all patents owned by Troll now and in the future. Oh, and by the way, this agreement is subject to an NDA to save Troll's face"

Cheers,
Wol