LinuxFest Northwest 2018: Don't Fear The Patent Clause!
Channel: linuxfestnorthwest
Date: 2018-05-01

Deb Nicholson

Several different patent clauses are embedded in modern open source licenses and there's some confusion about exactly what they each mean. Most developers would prefer to have nothing to do with patents or patent clauses, but avoiding the topic isn't a smart strategy. None of the popular clauses have been tested in court, so no one can predict exactly how the courts might deal with hybrid copyright and patent licenses.

That said, savvy open source participants can still make some reasonable assumptions based on the license author's intentions, trends in patent law and the way other common open source licenses have functioned. Understanding the players and the history that lead to patent clauses in open source licenses will help practitioners make informed choices about what licenses to apply to their own work and how these various licenses can help large multi-stakeholder projects.