At Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:12:05 +0200, Rémi Letot wrote: > > Jeroen Dekkers <[email protected]> writes: > > > but I think we can't just disregard all microsoft patents on the basis > > that software patents aren't valid in Europe. > > Of course not, but software patents and patents on protocols or > interfaces are completely out of scope in Europe (despite the EPO > granting them). I can't see what in the active sync protocol could be > considered patentable in Europe, there is no interraction with «the > forces of nature» that I'm aware of.
The forces of nature definition was an amendment that was proposed for the rejected software patent directive, as far as I know that definition isn't in use anywhere. But I agree that the activesync patents are likely to be invalidated on the basis that they are on software as such, but imho you still need to consider that they might not. > Microsoft could still try to defend it's patents in court, which would > be a definitive blow to any European small business, but I really don't > think they would risk confirmation of the invalidity of their patents > for any small business scale operation. As a small business you will probably get away with it, but there is still a risk and I just wanted to point that out so everybody can make an informed decision whether to take that risk. The good thing is that court cases in Europe are a lot cheaper than the US and most of the time the losing party has to pay the legal fees, but you still need to have the money to pay the lawyers during the case. Kind regards, Jeroen Dekkers -- [email protected] https://inverse.ca/sogo/lists
