> From: John Hasler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 11:58 AM
<...> > I have no doubt that Debian contains hundreds of potential > infringements of IBM patents. That wouldn't surprise me. If someone violates your patent and you fail to defend it in any meaningful way, you are considered to have abandoned the patent and it becomes effectively void. Defending it can be as simple as sending an infringing party a letter demanding that they cease and desist from infringing on the patent. IANAL, but have some familiarity with the process because I have a number of patents. From the practical viewpoint, the fact that someone has legally abandoned their patent and would not prevail in court does not stop them from suing anyone. Patent suits are _extremely_ expensive, and unless you have very deep pockets, most organizations are compelled to settle even if there is no legal basis for the suit. Even if they _do_ have the resources to see it through and win, many companies will make a business decision to settle a patent suit that does not impact them in some horribly way on the advice of their lawyers. My non-lawyer understanding is that for all intents and purposes, if a patent is widely ignored and the patent owner neither warns the infringers nor initiates legal action against any of them, you are pretty safe doing what everyone else is doing. If the infringement is in "broad daylight", and not obscure and hidden, so much the better. -- Seth Goodman -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
