[Discuss] [Open Manufacturing] patent pools for defense of open source contributors

[alicia]

If you *have* patents, then yes, I think these systems are excellent for
open sourcing your patent. I think the aspect missing is many oshw
companies do not want to go through the hassle of getting the patent.

Remember hardware is inherently open until closed (with a patent)!

Alicia


On Wed, Aug 20, 2014 at 11:25 AM, Matt Maier <blueback09 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Can we apply this same framework to protect open source hardware? It seems
> like patents are even more important to the hardware side of open source,
> since they're technically the only thing that speaks to control of the
> physical items.
>
> http://archive.oreilly.com/pub/post/patent_pools_offer_open_source.html
>
> "The two patent pool projects concerned here--open source's shining
> knights in armor--are the Patent Commons Project
> <http://www.patent-commons.org/> and the Open Invention Network
> <http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/>. The basic idea is to use the
> patent system the way companies and inventors have used it from the start:
> to cross-license patents and use patents defensively so they aren't sued
> out of existence"
>
> Until now, there was no prize for doing open source; you didn't get back
> anything in return...Now it's different. Open source your software, and you
> get protection. Individual developers or small software houses that always
> had to worry about patent lawsuits can now worry a bit less--but only if
> they play the open-source game...Managers who always asked "What do we get
> for open-sourcing besides good will?" now have a concrete answer: there
> will be a lot of legal muscle at their disposal."
>
> "If large legal resources are available to anyone open-sourcing his or her
> software, it suddenly becomes critical to define open source
> precisely...Amazingly, I have not been able to find anywhere--on the web
> sites of the Patent Commons Project and the Open Invention Network or among
> any of the commentators--a definition of open source."
>
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