Questions tagged [patents]

Patents provide intellectual property protection for algorithms and business processes. Many questions about patents are beyond the ability of a programmer to properly answer and are off-topic for the site. AskPatents.SE should be considered after reviewing their site guidelines.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
-3 votes
2 answers
217 views

Will I have to remove an apache 2 open-source project from the internet and stop using it if someone patents the concepts within the code?

The Apache 2 open-source license allows patents, does this mean it could be possible that an apache 2 open-source project would have to be removed if a company demonstrates it has a patent based on or ...
newlogic's user avatar
  • 415
-1 votes
1 answer
370 views

May I relicense my project from GPLv3 to Apache 2.0? [duplicate]

I am about to publish an Android app project I would like to do it using GPLv3 license to avoid it being used in proprietary projects for now. If I change my mind in the future, since I am the ...
JP Ventura's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
1k views

GPLing an implementation of a patented algorithm

TL;DR: Can you publicly release your own implementation of a patented algorithm as a free research tool for others, under the GPL, when you do not hold the patent (but will happily give clear and ...
John H's user avatar
  • 79
2 votes
1 answer
192 views

Is it fair to patent workarounds? [closed]

While developing a FAT32 driver for my bootloader, I thought to make it complete by adding the long file name support. While watching around for some specification, and I also found articles about ...
EnryFan's user avatar
  • 129
5 votes
2 answers
339 views

How much attention should be paid to patents when developing software?

Let's say I want to develop an image editing program similar to Photoshop. Is it likely that certain interface patterns and approaches are patented and I can get sued if I use them in my program as ...
Overv's user avatar
  • 1,170
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

The Apache License, v2.0: Copyright License vs Patent License

The Apache License, v2.0 [..] 2. Grant of Copyright License Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, ...
user278064's user avatar
-1 votes
3 answers
289 views

Making money from a custom built interpreter? [closed]

I have been making considerable progress lately on building an interpreter. I am building it from NASM assembly code (for the core engine) and C (cl.exe the Microsoft compiler for the parser). I ...
annoying_squid's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
168 views

License on papers published at universities?

I've done some searching around on how to interpret morse code inputted by a human. I haven't found any existing libraries or applications that do this, but I found some academic papers on how it can ...
ErikPerik's user avatar
  • 141
3 votes
3 answers
229 views

US Software Patents [closed]

Hypothetical: I’m based in the UK. I’ve developed an application only to discover after it has gone live, that someone else has filed a US Patent application for similar software. I don’t know if ...
user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
483 views

Who is responsible for doing a patent search?

If a client requests that a particular feature is added into their website software, who is responsible for searching and recognising that a patent royalty has to paid? client web developer This ...
Lea Hayes's user avatar
  • 1,033
-3 votes
3 answers
239 views

Are Datasets Patentable [closed]

I'm working on a project that uses a dataset produced from software informally licensed as "non-commercial use only". I'm developing an application that uses that dataset as an input to another ...
Rich's user avatar
  • 189
9 votes
5 answers
879 views

How to protect yourself from being sued by patents?

I've had a few software ideas before that could probably be patented.(decided not to pursue any of them, however). Basically, I don't want these ideas patented though. I don't care if someone else ...
Earlz's user avatar
  • 22.8k
1 vote
2 answers
413 views

Patent in Europe

I'd like to build and sell/or free a software based on ffmpeg and some other mp3 library lgpl, So I know in U.s.a. there's a patent and royalty problem, But if I live in Europe I'd like to know if I ...
user17564's user avatar
  • 121
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why is (Ogg) Vorbis not automatically supported by Windows?

Vorbis was never threatened by MPEG LA, so it is undoubtedly completely patent free. (MPEG LA never misses a chance to spread patent FUD) Windows supports mp3, so it isn’t because they want to push ...
flying sheep's user avatar