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I'm pretty sure (dueling IANALs!) you can't. This is why patent licenses are such a key piece of OSS packages that you want companies to be able to use.
by sulam 5y ago
I'm pretty sure (dueling IANALs!) you can't. This is why patent licenses are such a key piece of OSS packages that you want companies to be able to use.
- dahfizz 5y agoDefine "use". The GPL explicitly allows internal use / modification of software, for example[1]. It's only when you sell / distribute software that includes OSS components that licenses matter. I can do whatever I want with OSS code and I can modify consumer electronics I've bought any way I want; there is no need to be concerned with licenses and patents. Only if I want to sell my creation do patents matter. [1] https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#InternalDistribution https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#InternalDistributi...
- sulam 5y agoI honestly believe you're wrong here. There's no exclusion for not profiting from your unlicensed use of a patent, you're infringing regardless of how you use it. Whether or not someone will sue you obviously brings into question damages and how they would collect them, but I don't believe infringing behavior is contingent on a monetary exchange. Here you go, a source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/patent_infringement https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/patent_infringement [...] one commits patent infringement by making, using, offering to sell, or selling something that contains every element of a patented claim [...]