[License-review] use restrictions and patent royalties

[Kyle Mitchell]

On 2018-06-20 15:06, Bruce Perens wrote:
> If OSI ever wanted to permit use restrictions, it would open the door to
> licenses that specified patent royalties. Now, sarcastically, I could say
> that they are a big and influential community, and we should make room for
> them in our tent. Practically, though, it would kill Open Source.

Seems like this is branching off L0-R discussion.

I'm having trouble imaging the kind of license you mean.
Could you sketch what it might say?  A use restriction that
specifies patent royalties?

In general, patent holders don't need to fret about
copyright licenses.  Either you have a patent that reads on
the software, and you can sue for infringement, or you
don't.  As a patent holder, you don't need any copyright
license, especially when you don't own the relevant
copyright, to force a patent-royalty negotiation.

Patents do threaten open source.  But more because of what
USPTO and courts do than what licensors do.

-- 
Kyle Mitchell, attorney // Oakland // (510) 712 - 0933