4 ms·

Preact, React alternative that almost certainly implements many of React's patents, but without a license to do so. Doesn't sound like a great alternative to me

Preact, React alternative that almost certainly implements many of React's patents, but without a license to do so. Doesn't sound like a great alternative to me.

TomMarius 9y ago
What patents regarding React exist and which of these are held by Facebook?
- comex 9y ago
  That’s part of the strangeness of this whole debate: nobody knows. The list of Facebook’s patents is public, but I’m not aware of anyone publicly going and doing the research to see which of them, if any, are likely to apply to React. (Possibly because of the whole treble damages thing - along with the fact that Facebook has thousands of patents to look through.) Facebook’s lawyers may or may not have done that research, but it’s in their best interest to keep things as vague as possible (at least up to the point where they actually threaten to sue someone), to avoid workarounds.
  - EduardoBautista 9y ago
    Facebook can sue anyone for patent infringement whether or not they use React. Many people seem to believe that they can't ever be sued by Facebook for any reason as long as they don't use React although that is not the case.
  - underwater 9y ago
    The list of contributors to React, and Facebook patent holders are both public. If someone cared to they could cross reference both and narrow down the search area.
- koolba 9y ago
  The ones that haven't been finalized by the patent office yet. Do you really think they don't have a pending patent for some part of React? I bet they've got at least one covering virtual DOM. And don't worry about prior art. As long as some part of it can weasel through a patent it's enough. Doesn't have to be the whole thing.
jcrben 9y ago
As far as I know, there are not "React" patents. Facebook has many patents, but I haven't seen anyone point to any patent which specifically involves React. The author of https://medium.com/@dwalsh.sdlr/react-facebook-and-the-revokable-patent-license-why-its-a-paper-25c40c50b562 https://medium.com/@dwalsh.sdlr/react-facebook-and-the-revok... did a cursory search and concluded: "To determine patent liability asserted by Facebook, we need to assess Facebook’s various patents and their claims. Or more specifically, which Facebook patents claim any underlying React technology? As the above illustrates, this is not a trivial question. But in my cursory search, that answer is zero. (Again, if you have examples, send them over.) Moreover, it would suprise me given the USPTO and courts general disfavor of software patents if Facebook had anything patentable in React, much less actually patented. The prior art of componetization, diffing, and virtual doms circa 2013 is very well known, and I don’t see any applicable continuation patent applications."
EduardoBautista 9y ago
If you can't fork React then why is it open source? Their license just says you can't sue Facebook for patent infringement. That's it.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- stuaxo 9y ago
  Sounds to me more like "shared source" that MS used to push.
developit 9y ago
It's unlikely Preact infringes on a theoretical React patent. It's not a reverse-engineered reimplementation of React, but rather a library that happens to have a similar public API. APIs are not patentable, thus Preact's implementation is no more likely to infringe than Angular or Vue's.

Preact, React alternative that almost certainly implements many of React's patents, but without a license to do so. Doesn't sound like a great alternative to me.

TomMarius 9y ago

What patents regarding React exist and which of these are held by Facebook?

comex 9y ago
That’s part of the strangeness of this whole debate: nobody knows. The list of Facebook’s patents is public, but I’m not aware of anyone publicly going and doing the research to see which of them, if any, are likely to apply to React. (Possibly because of the whole treble damages thing - along with the fact that Facebook has thousands of patents to look through.) Facebook’s lawyers may or may not have done that research, but it’s in their best interest to keep things as vague as possible (at least up to the point where they actually threaten to sue someone), to avoid workarounds.
- EduardoBautista 9y ago
  Facebook can sue anyone for patent infringement whether or not they use React. Many people seem to believe that they can't ever be sued by Facebook for any reason as long as they don't use React although that is not the case.
- underwater 9y ago
  The list of contributors to React, and Facebook patent holders are both public. If someone cared to they could cross reference both and narrow down the search area.
koolba 9y ago
The ones that haven't been finalized by the patent office yet. Do you really think they don't have a pending patent for some part of React? I bet they've got at least one covering virtual DOM. And don't worry about prior art. As long as some part of it can weasel through a patent it's enough. Doesn't have to be the whole thing.

jcrben 9y ago

As far as I know, there are not "React" patents. Facebook has many patents, but I haven't seen anyone point to any patent which specifically involves React. The author of https://medium.com/@dwalsh.sdlr/react-facebook-and-the-revokable-patent-license-why-its-a-paper-25c40c50b562 https://medium.com/@dwalsh.sdlr/react-facebook-and-the-revok... did a cursory search and concluded: "To determine patent liability asserted by Facebook, we need to assess Facebook’s various patents and their claims. Or more specifically, which Facebook patents claim any underlying React technology? As the above illustrates, this is not a trivial question. But in my cursory search, that answer is zero. (Again, if you have examples, send them over.) Moreover, it would suprise me given the USPTO and courts general disfavor of software patents if Facebook had anything patentable in React, much less actually patented. The prior art of componetization, diffing, and virtual doms circa 2013 is very well known, and I don’t see any applicable continuation patent applications."

EduardoBautista 9y ago

If you can't fork React then why is it open source? Their license just says you can't sue Facebook for patent infringement. That's it.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
stuaxo 9y ago
Sounds to me more like "shared source" that MS used to push.

developit 9y ago

It's unlikely Preact infringes on a theoretical React patent. It's not a reverse-engineered reimplementation of React, but rather a library that happens to have a similar public API. APIs are not patentable, thus Preact's implementation is no more likely to infringe than Angular or Vue's.