3 ms·

Are fractal tree indexes in the public domain, or are they patented?

• Intermernet 9y ago
  They are patented but there is a patent grant in place. https://github.com/Tokutek/ft-index/blob/master/PATENTS https://github.com/Tokutek/ft-index/blob/master/PATENTS Disclaimer: IANAL. Consult proper legal professionals etc.
  • fourthark 9y ago
    One thing I've always wondered with patent grants in open source: it seems to say only that it's okay to use this library, nor necessarily to implement the patented algorithm yourself. Probably open sourcing and including a patent grant signal that the owner is benevolent and isn't likely to sue you for re-implementing their algorithm, but I don't think that's spelled out anywhere.
    • Intermernet 9y ago
      In the linked document they go out of the way to specify that the patent grant only applies to "THIS IMPLEMENTATION" of the algorithm. I'm not one hundred percent sure what that means in regards to reimplementing the algorithm.