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This is actual fairly common nowadays. And rightfully so, if you sue us for patent infringement....no you can not use our OPEN SOURCE stuff anymore. Seems prett

This is actual fairly common nowadays. And rightfully so, if you sue us for patent infringement....no you can not use our OPEN SOURCE stuff anymore. Seems pretty fair to me.

flurpitude 12y ago
Seems to me the more problematic part is clause b: The license granted hereunder will terminate, automatically and without notice, for anyone that makes any claim (including by filing any lawsuit, assertion or other action) alleging ... (b) that any right in any patent claim of Facebook is invalid or unenforceable. Doesn't that mean that if Facebook sues you for patent infringement in something else you did (possibly unrelated to React) and you disagree, they can take away your licence to use React? In other words, Facebook could arbitrarily shut down your use of React by filing a spurious patent lawsuit against you. And if your use of React was critical to your business and Facebook didn't like the look of your business, that could be dangerous.
- jasonhansel 12y ago
  In fact, it seems that they don't even need to sue you -- they could just "assert" that you violated their patents.
zaroth 12y ago
I respect the right of any author to release their work under any license they see fit. And of course anyone is free to use React or not. So in that sense any license is fair. But there is an asymmetry here. Facebook offers the open source code license and you use it fairly and per the terms. Facebook then hypothetically steals your company's patented Crown Jewels. When you send them a C&D they retaliate by revoking your license. So now they've kicked your ass twice and you've done nothing to warrant it. That would not be what I call "fair".
- jhall1468 12y ago
  I'm not terribly worried. At the end of the day if Facebook did this the patent revocation would likely be unenforceable. This would be a simple example of Unconscionability. You can't enforce a contract that is grossly unfair. This entire thing is an anti-patent troll measure.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

This is actual fairly common nowadays. And rightfully so, if you sue us for patent infringement....no you can not use our OPEN SOURCE stuff anymore. Seems pretty fair to me.

flurpitude 12y ago

Seems to me the more problematic part is clause b: The license granted hereunder will terminate, automatically and without notice, for anyone that makes any claim (including by filing any lawsuit, assertion or other action) alleging ... (b) that any right in any patent claim of Facebook is invalid or unenforceable. Doesn't that mean that if Facebook sues you for patent infringement in something else you did (possibly unrelated to React) and you disagree, they can take away your licence to use React? In other words, Facebook could arbitrarily shut down your use of React by filing a spurious patent lawsuit against you. And if your use of React was critical to your business and Facebook didn't like the look of your business, that could be dangerous.

jasonhansel 12y ago
In fact, it seems that they don't even need to sue you -- they could just "assert" that you violated their patents.

zaroth 12y ago

I respect the right of any author to release their work under any license they see fit. And of course anyone is free to use React or not. So in that sense any license is fair. But there is an asymmetry here. Facebook offers the open source code license and you use it fairly and per the terms. Facebook then hypothetically steals your company's patented Crown Jewels. When you send them a C&D they retaliate by revoking your license. So now they've kicked your ass twice and you've done nothing to warrant it. That would not be what I call "fair".

jhall1468 12y ago
I'm not terribly worried. At the end of the day if Facebook did this the patent revocation would likely be unenforceable. This would be a simple example of Unconscionability. You can't enforce a contract that is grossly unfair. This entire thing is an anti-patent troll measure.

deleted 12y ago

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