4 ms·

The license granted hereunder will terminate, automatically and without notice, for anyone that makes any claim (including by filing any lawsuit, assertion or o

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. that means if facebook sues you for any reason, they can also take away react if you try to fight it!!!!!!! Which raises the question: Can software truly be open source if there is a company to gain by controlling it?

jhall1468 12y ago
That's a retaliation clause. That means if YOU file a lawsuit against Facebook then you lose the patent grant, but only if the lawsuit you file claims that you own some right to the software in question. Basically this avoids Facebook being unable to defend themselves if you claim you have a patent that covers React.
- Touche 12y ago
  That sounds fair. What if you sued them for some unrelated piece of software, can they use this against your use of React?
  - syjer 12y ago
    Does not seem fair to me with the: " whether or not such claim is related to the Software". It's really a more asymmetrical retaliation clause than the one from the Apache 2.0 (or GPLv3), which are only about the related work. (IANAL, so maybe I'm wrong about the interpretation)
- chc 12y ago
  How does it exclude assertions made when you're defending yourself against Facebook? I don't see it.
  - jhall1468 12y ago
    "The license granted hereunder will terminate, automatically and without notice, for anyone that makes any claim" For anyone who makes any claim. The legal definition of claim is that you must assert you own all or part of the software. If Facebook makes the claim against you, the only defense you need is their patent license grant and the software license.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
jasonhansel 12y ago
As I noted in a different comment, they don't even need to sue you. They can just "assert" that you've infringed on their patents.
Jare 12y ago
My IANAL interpretation is that you can't ever say that Facebook infringes on anyone's patent, and you can't ever say any of Facebook's patents are not valid. In any setting, not just in court or as part of a legal process. Careful what you write in AskPatents! You can defend yourself, however you can not do so by saying anything bad about Facebook, you are basically restricted to say you do not infringe. I'd say it qualifies as a legal trojan horse.

jhall1468 12y ago

That's a retaliation clause. That means if YOU file a lawsuit against Facebook then you lose the patent grant, but only if the lawsuit you file claims that you own some right to the software in question. Basically this avoids Facebook being unable to defend themselves if you claim you have a patent that covers React.

Touche 12y ago
That sounds fair. What if you sued them for some unrelated piece of software, can they use this against your use of React?
- syjer 12y ago
  Does not seem fair to me with the: " whether or not such claim is related to the Software". It's really a more asymmetrical retaliation clause than the one from the Apache 2.0 (or GPLv3), which are only about the related work. (IANAL, so maybe I'm wrong about the interpretation)
chc 12y ago
How does it exclude assertions made when you're defending yourself against Facebook? I don't see it.
- jhall1468 12y ago
  "The license granted hereunder will terminate, automatically and without notice, for anyone that makes any claim" For anyone who makes any claim. The legal definition of claim is that you must assert you own all or part of the software. If Facebook makes the claim against you, the only defense you need is their patent license grant and the software license.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

jasonhansel 12y ago

As I noted in a different comment, they don't even need to sue you. They can just "assert" that you've infringed on their patents.

Jare 12y ago

My IANAL interpretation is that you can't ever say that Facebook infringes on anyone's patent, and you can't ever say any of Facebook's patents are not valid. In any setting, not just in court or as part of a legal process. Careful what you write in AskPatents! You can defend yourself, however you can not do so by saying anything bad about Facebook, you are basically restricted to say you do not infringe. I'd say it qualifies as a legal trojan horse.