[License-discuss] patent rights and the OSD

[Christopher Sean Morrison]

On Mar 07, 2017, at 06:58 PM, Lawrence Rosen <lrosen at rosenlaw.com> wrote:



Christopher Sean Morrison wrote:

> Software patents are terrible in part because they pertain to the source code itself, thus affecting the distribution terms on that code.

 

Patents don't pertain to source code or to code distribution, at least not in legal terms of direct patent infringement. Patent rights pertain to the "use" of the software, not its written description.



I didn't meant to imply that the code itself infringes on the patent, but rather that the "it pertains" in the practical sense that one can test whether OSD #1 or #7 are permitted by looking at the code.


Is it not true that if the code satisfies a patent's claims, any recipient could not engage in free redistribution without a patent grant?  That is what makes this an OSI matter in my view.



Cheers!
Sean

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