Article of Gnome, Mono, Ubuntu and growing influence of Microsoft

[Nils Kassube]

Jan Claeys wrote:
> Did you or someone else do an investigation into what parts are most
> vulnerable to software patents (in those countries that allow them)?

Yes, Microsoft did the research. They came to the conclusion that 235 of
their patents are infringed [1]. As they don't tell anybody which patents,
I suppose there are many trivial patents like [2].

But seriously, according to [3] it would not be wise to do such a research
without prior lawyer advice. At least in the USA the damages for patent
infringement are tripled if the infringer knows about the patent.


Nils


[1] <http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm>
[2] <http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29130>
[3] <http://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2008/foss-primer.pdf>