For those interested in protecting things, I suppose patents are also another mechanism, assuming technology that is truly new, and plenty of money for lawyers. Patents even seem to be involved with Open Source. For example, the site that distributes the Spec for MPEG4 also gives away the source code MPEG4 Reference Software. At the same time it warns that the source, although open, contains material that is patented. If you go to Microsoft's site, they will give you instructions on how to pay them off to use their patents in your product built from the Reference Software, or otherwise.
- Don ----- Original Message ----- From: "PWISVNEWS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 12:22 AM Subject: IBM PartnerWorld News: ISV edition 1 January 12, 2005 A Message from Buell Duncan General Manager, ISV & Developer Relations Yesterday IBM made an announcement that is of particular importance to ISVs and developers. IBM has pledged open access to more than 500 software patents to individuals and groups working on open source software. We believe this is the largest pledge ever of patents of any kind, and represents a major shift in the way IBM manages and deploys its intellectual property portfolio. This pledge is applicable to any individual, community or company working on or using software that meets the OSI definition of open source software now or in the future. Access to these patents will allow developers to focus more on adding value in terms of features, functions and interoperability while eliminating certain legal concerns that can add time and expense to software development. You may recall that at Linux World in August, IBM pledged not to assert any of its patents against the Linux kernel. Today's pledge covers thousands of open source projects and programs including Apache, OpenOffice, Samba, Mozilla and all of Linux. We hope that this pledge can form the basis of an industry-wide "patent commons" in which patents are used to establish a platform to drive further innovation in areas of broad interest to information technology developers and users. IBM participates and contributes to more than 150 open source projects, more than any other company--including a $1 billion investment in Linux in 1998, a $40 million donation to Eclipse in 2001 and the recent donation of its Java-based Cloudscape database offering to the Apache Foundation, which is estimated to be worth $85 million. Our objective is simple: we want to help spur more innovation around applications and the development community. The United States Patent and Trademark Office also announced that IBM earned more U.S. patents than any other company in 2004 for the twelfth consecutive year. We believe that leadership in innovation, however, is not just about the number of patents issued. We believe it's about innovating to benefit customers, partners and society. We see our pledge today as the beginning of a new era in how IBM will manage intellectual property. IBM will continue to use patents to encourage collaborative innovation and open standards. The pledged patents cover a wide breadth, including patents on operating systems, databases and XML. The pledged patents and further related information is posted on IBM's Web site at http://www.ibm.com/news/us/en/2005/01/patents.html I hope you share our enthusiasm about this pledge and what it signals for the future of openness, interoperability and collaborative innovation. Please join us in encouraging others to take similair actions. This is an important idea whose time has come. Buell
