"learn about GRID computing when I was studying biology and the Linux file
system, with future goals to write interesting open source programs. It's the
future and I just hit a wall in
the design process of writing code for my study."
Jeremy,
For me the first question to be addressed is motive. Are you planning
to distribute your work in such a way as to profit from it in a monetary
sense? If you are not then the issue of patent is basically moot. The primary
purpose of a patent is to protect the creator from intellectual and financial
harm. If you are going to distribute the material give create to those that
you know contributed, which you should do whether it is patented or not. If
you are not going to have a financial benefit then you are not financially
harming the other party. The caveat here is if the patent holder has produced
the material in such a manner that they are being financially rewarded and you
start to distribute something similar to it for free then you are hurting them
financially. This is a very rough overview and I am sure any bad lawyer would
add 50 pages to clarify what I have said.
I do agree with Greg's proceed in ignorance concept. If you are not trying to
infringe and do not intentional infringe you will mental proceed better and
have a lesser case if one were to be brought. I may know that the speed limit
is 35 but I will still try to go 45 (;>)
FYI - I am not a practicing attorney and this was not my primary field of legal
studies. It is JMHO. Ken//
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