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08.12.05
OSDL
Opens Patent Commons Project
 By
David Utter
Open Source Development Labs disclosed at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo the
creation of a centralized patent and pledge library.
Feel that open source patenting may affect your business? Tell us about
it at WebProWorld.
The OSDL announced the project, and in a press release described a couple pieces
of the foundation of the Patent Commons Project:
• A library
and database that aggregates patent pledges made by companies. The library will
also aggregate other legal solutions, such as indemnification programs offered
by vendors of open source software.
• A collection of software
patent licenses and software patents (issued and pending) held for the benefit
of the open source community.
Groklaw
mentions the importance of the prior art database:
One of the difficulties
with software patents is that software was deemed patentable by a court decision,
with no prior art database in place, no trained examiners, and only the most vague
of guidance on how it all should work.
That passage may be a summary of why the Justice Department needed Adobe and Macromedia
to submit more information about their products and businesses pending their proposed
merger.
The Project says it will administer those patents to the betterment of the open
source development communities. Under its stewardship, the project will ensure
that the patents it manages won't be used against developers of open source software.
Deflecting those potential legal actions is very important to the continued success
of open source software. ''Making it easier for companies and communities that
have patents to make those patents available in a common pool for people to use
is one way to try to help developers deal with the threat,'' said Linus Torvalds
in the statement.
About
the Author:
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.
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