On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 1:00 PM, Mohammad Nour El-Din < nour.moham...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi... > > On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 9:41 AM, Martijn Dashorst < > martijn.dasho...@gmail.com > > wrote: > > > On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 7:57 AM, Kevin Kluge <kevin.kl...@citrix.com> > > wrote: > > > Citrix is pursuing patents based on prior CloudStack work and expects > to > > continue to do > > > so in the future. Citrix is getting these patents to protect the > > CloudStack user community. > > > Consider the case where some other entity states that the use of > > CloudStack is infringing > > > on their patents. Citrix could use these patents to fight this entity > > and defend the > > > community. An incremental benefit is that if Citrix (or any other > > CloudStack-friendly > > > entity) has a patent then that patent cannot be acquired by an > > unfriendly entity. > > > > Anyone with about $15B can buy Citrix, and start wreaking havoc with > > the patents. See Google with its acquisition of Motorola, or Oracle > > with its acquisition of Sun (Java?). Or Citrix can sell its patent > > portfolio to a shell company, keeping a license and let the shell > > start suing the rest of the world (see Apple, Microsoft etc). There > > are many avenues to abuse the patents. > > > > I read section 3 of [1], and AFAIU and if the above scenario hold does this > mean that such company X can sue ASF for example ? IANAL either but I can at least gauge this much from the PR side. If a commercial entity decides to sue the ASF, a highly respected, non-profit organization (charity), it will be the "mother of all negative PR campaigns": an instant kiss of death IMHO. Once kissed, you first turn into an ugly SCO-like toad. Then you die a slow miserable lonely death that everyone looks forward to. I think any company in their right mind would consider this PR dimension and the impact that the action will inevitably have on their image before deciding to litigate against the ASF. > Sorry if it is a stupid > question but I am no lawyer at all :). > > Not stupid at all and perhaps someone can answer this for the both of us. However I presume the worst for safety sake, you can always be litigated against :-). But the best policy is good citizenship and diplomacy on our part, which we've done well as a Foundation. That's why we have the respect in the general community. This is why even if someone has a valid legal case against us, the PR dimension will most likely thwart litigation. -- Best Regards, -- Alex
