4 ms·

For my own edification (I'm not an expert on IP law), what kind of project is free to disregard patents? Is it just a matter of whether or not the project is a

• wtallis 10y ago
  It's a matter of not operating in a jurisdiction that hands out software patents. Europe is generally much more sensible in this respect.
  • ape4 10y ago
    Can a program legally do: if (country == usa) { workSlowPatentFreeWay() else { workScreamingFastWay() }
    • the8472 10y ago
      things like ffmpeg can be configured to exclude various kinds of code based on licences. I assume similar build-time flags could be set to exclude patent-encumbered code. The source would include the code, but binaries could be shipped with and without it.
    • dom0 10y ago
      What do I (a German) care about some u-boat patents some American may or may not or whatever have on some technique I use in my software?
    • JoshTriplett 10y ago
      The usual approach: uncompiled source code implementing a patented algorithm doesn't directly violate the patent, for the same reason a paper describing a patented algorithm doesn't. So, you can ship the necessary source code, and a compile-time option to build with or without it. Freetype used to do this with bytecode hinting. Various media libraries do this as well.
• zardo 10y ago
  The patent is for calculating erasure codes, if you want to do Galois field arithmetic for any other reason the patent does not apply.