Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2012 16:21:25 -0600 From: Chad Perrin <perrin@apotheon.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Patent hit - MS goes after Linux - FreeBSD ? Message-ID: <20120803222125.GE26239@hemlock.hydra> In-Reply-To: <20120803081433.0ad12c03@AMD620.ovitrap.com> References: <loom.20120801T135633-743@post.gmane.org> <E012414FCF65894B89F69DE76AE15E9908274802@CPT-EXCH01.int.mtnbusiness.net> <alpine.BSF.2.00.1208011511490.3256@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> <E012414FCF65894B89F69DE76AE15E9908274973@CPT-EXCH01.int.mtnbusiness.net> <20120802185759.GB12255@hemlock.hydra> <20120803081433.0ad12c03@AMD620.ovitrap.com>
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On Fri, Aug 03, 2012 at 08:14:33AM +0700, Erich Dollansky wrote: > Hi, > > On Thu, 2 Aug 2012 12:57:59 -0600 > Chad Perrin <perrin@apotheon.com> wrote: > > > On Wed, Aug 01, 2012 at 01:39:21PM +0000, Traiano Welcome wrote: > > > > > > Unfortunately, patent law and copyright law are very different > > environments. The truth is that probably every nontrivial piece of > > yes. > > > software created infringes several patents, and the only question that > > remains is whether those patents would hold up in court under close > > The best tool against any patents is prior art. . . . assuming you have enough resources to throw at lawyers to effectively fight your case in court. > > The open source scene misses a very simple platform. Even FreeBSD could > offer an extra list named 'prior-art' on which people can publish their > ideas. The moment the server starts distributing the e-mail, nobody can > claim a patent anywhere in the world for the idea mentioned. That would be nice. > > > scrutiny. The greater the disparity in legal expertise and funding > > behind the two parties, the greater the likelihood that the case will > > be found in favor of the party with the greater resources. > > Not true for cases of prior art. Do lawyers not use the law to their clients' advatage -- often abusing it -- just because they're wrong in the final analysis? That is not what I have seen. What I have seen is that a company like SCO can drag out proceedings for most of a decade (2003 to 2010 before the final nail in the Novell v. SCO matter was pounded in, but SCO is *still* suing IBM) when it not only cannot produce evidence of any infringing code, but doesn't even own the copyrights in question. It would take substantially less than a year for a big corporation to make my little LLC go under, regardless of how good a lawyer I can find. In fact, the better the lawyer, the more quickly I'm likely to run out of money to fight the case, because of the rate I'd have to pay a better lawyer. An accountant would be a better investment, to help me save as much money as possible in the midst of a full-scale legal retreat. Contrary to what you seem to want to imply here, in civil suits the guy with the resources usually wins -- especially in matters like patent infringement, where a bunch of hand-wavy nonsense on a piece of paper can usually be interpreted however the better funded legal team wants it to be interpreted. > > > > This is the reason software patents comprise such a blight on the > > world of software development. Even a frivolous patent that would > > There is no difference for an engineer who works in other fields. That's a fair statement. I wasn't trying to exclude other fields; I was just speaking specifically about software development. > > > not hold up through completion of litigation may serve its purpose by > > bankrupting a defendant before the case is concluded. > > That party must have a real dumb patent attorney then. . . . or very little money relative to the other party. I suppose dollars are equivalent to IQ points in your view. > > > > It is possible that Microsoft is going the way of SCO -- into its > > grave, having hung all its hopes on litigation. Along the way, > > though, it will probably do a lot of damage to a lot of people, > > projects, and businesses, and I just hope it doesn't get as far as > > the FreeBSD project or any FreeBSD users before things come crashing > > down. > > It is all in the people's mind. I'm not really sure what you're trying to say here. > > > (disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. Et > > cetera.) > > This is an example of the real problem. What -- the fact that I understand the law enough to not want to get sued by someone who's dumb enough to take advice from a mailing list on how to handle a patent suit? Are you a patent lawyer? If not, perhaps the real problem in this exchange is *your* lack of understanding of how things work. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]
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