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Patents aren't copyright, it's perfectly legal to publish plans or explanations on how to build a patented device. You can even patent an improvement on a paten
by ramchip 13y ago
Patents aren't copyright, it's perfectly legal to publish plans or explanations on how to build a patented device. You can even patent an improvement on a patent you don't own.
- DanWaterworth 13y agoHow does this work with software? Does source code qualify as, just plans?
- throwawaykf02 13y agoPatents do not restrict rescues for research purposes, true. That is the one widely acknowledged exception to infringing use. That is why you can study an invention and then patent an improvement or novel enough variations thereof. But distributing detailed plans (or source code, as mentioned in sibling comment) of something that enables others to easily recreate something covered by a patent just seems to be less clear-cut to me (IANAL).