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Even if the patent has expired, copyright is still in place. You can't use the code unless it was placed in the public domain by the author or you have been gra
by mark-r 15y ago
Even if the patent has expired, copyright is still in place. You can't use the code unless it was placed in the public domain by the author or you have been granted a license. You could however write your own code that expresses the same algorithm. Nothing about this protects you from violating any other patents.
- kruhft 15y agoBut since the patent has been done and expired, the actual algorithm is no longer patentable again, right?
- mark-r 15y agoThe patent may be expired, but an enhancement to it might be granted a new patent, and your implementation might inadvertently infringe on the enhancement. There may also be cases where two patents cover the same algorithm. Be careful about assuming a patent has expired, terms have changed in the past and you have to consider foreign patents as well.