Hello Alex,
Maybe you could educate us on the potential impact or liabilities?
1. First, are we mostly likely talking about "software patents" and if so,
what countries recognize these patents and which do not?
2. What could happen to a company or individual
(a) in a country that recognizes software patents
(b) in a country that does not recognize software patents
that distributes a compiled version of OOo
(i) in a country that recognizes software patents
(ii) in a country that does not recognize software patents.
For example, a company in the US that distributes compiled OOo in the US; a
company in the US that exports compiled OOo to Europe; a company in Europe
that distributes compiled OOo in Europe; a company in Europe that exports
compiled OOo to the US?
Could they be subject to monetary damages? Could they be subject to an
injunction prohibiting them from distributing OOo in compiled form?
3. How about a company or individual that distributes OOo in source form?
4. How about a company or individual who contributes to OOo? Could they be
held liable for some sort of "vicarious" or "contributory" patent
infringement?
5. How about a company or individual who promotes OOo?
6. How about a company or individual that simply downloads and uses OOo, but
does not distribute it, contribute to it, or promote it?
Any information you could share about what activities are protected and what
could be potentially infringing and subject a company or person to liability
might be helpful to assessing the potential impact.
Thanks,
Allen
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
