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Can somebody who speaks legalese translate Red Hat's Patent Promise into more parseable English? I'm curious how it works, but the wording is pretty obscure to
by jibcage 9y ago
Can somebody who speaks legalese translate Red Hat's Patent Promise into more parseable English? I'm curious how it works, but the wording is pretty obscure to me.
- jklein11 9y agoI am not a lawyer, but my take on it is: Red Hat holds patents but promises not to enforce them. This means anyone can use the IP without worrying about being sued for infringement. No one else can claim they own the IP because Red Hat already owns it. They also have a clause saying that if Red Hat sells the IP, the buyer needs to uphold the same promise.
- njharman 9y agoI am also not a lawyer. But I don't think a "promise" is a legally enforceable concept.
- gpderetta 9y agoI'm not a lawyer either, but the estoppel doctrine should make it enforceable.
- haikuginger 9y agoI am a fourth non-lawyer, and this is all RICO.
- npsomaratna 9y ago3rd year law student (among other things!) here. As you've mentioned, the doctrine of promissory estoppel should make this enforceable in law.
- c0ndu17 9y agoThis whole I'm not a lawyer business brings this to mind... https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKF9KCcXkAA11ez.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKF9KCcXkAA11ez.jpg
- joatmon-snoo 9y agoTo the extent a party makes, uses, sells, offers to sell, imports, or otherwise transfers Covered FOSS, Red Hat agrees not to use such actions as a basis for enforcing its patents against the party ("Our Promise"), subject to the limitations herein. If I read this right, Red Hat promises to not sue anyone for using/transferring FOSS whether or not such an action infringes on Red Hat's patents - they will only use patents to defend against litigation. (IANAL.)
- mcbits 9y agoThe way I'm reading it, if you develop free/open source software that infringes Red Hat's patents, Red Hat promises not to sue unless you sue them first. The "combined" part seems to be saying you can also develop a system that's partly proprietary, as long as the proprietary parts are simple and not using Red Hat's patents. If they sell a patent, the buyer must agree to the same promise. The promise won't protect you if you infringe someone else's IP, even if it's related to one of Red Hat's patents.
- Zarel 9y ago> promises not to sue unless you sue them first Isn't that exactly the same as Facebook's license grant?
- ungamed 9y agoFacebook can sue you first.
- madeofpalk 9y agoSure, but you won't loose the patent grant. if Facebook [...] files a lawsuit alleging patent infringement against you in the first instance, and you respond by filing a patent infringement counterclaim in that lawsuit against that party that is unrelated to the Software, the license granted hereunder will not terminate
- mcbits 9y agoRed Hat: You can use our patents if we can use your software. Facebook: You can use our software if we can use your patents. That's my severely over-simplified interpretation. The most significant difference is that Red Hat's promise extends to FOSS in general, though apparently not proprietary software. Facebook's license applies only to specific Facebook FOSS code, but it can be used in proprietary software.
- ec109685 9y ago