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I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I know expired US patents enter the public domain. After their expiration the described invention can be freely used by anyone f

by rsp1984 7y ago

I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I know expired US patents enter the public domain. After their expiration the described invention can be freely used by anyone for any purpose [1]. So I think the answers to your questions are yes and no. [1] https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/how-long-is-my-patent-protection-good-for.html https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/how-long-is-my-paten...

amelius 7y ago
Perhaps there are still patents in other regions (?)
- dr_zoidberg 7y ago
  As others commented, the only countries where software patents work are the US and Japan. So it'd be just Japan that could have a patent in place? Don't know theh details, and IANAL. OTOH, I'd really like the patent to be inactive, it'd allow me to work worry free in a lot of things that I've had an interest in.