On 12/29/05, Jonas Beckeman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > But they also have a legal obligation to list > > all issued patents in some obvious place. > > This could be in the download screen or in the packaged > > product, or somewhere. If they dont list the patent, they can > > *loose* it. > > I don't think they have to. Regardless if I even knew about the SWF format > or Flash player, if I do something that infringes one of their patents so > they can claim I've caused a revenue loss (true or not), they can sue. >
It is true that you can unknowingly infringe. And they can sue, regardless of your knowledge. But this is unrelated to the fact that any product which contains patented IP **MUST** indicate somewhere that it is contained, and list the patent numbers. I am not sure exactly what the penalty is for not doing so, like for example loosing the ability to claim damages up until the point of disclosure, or worse. But they absolutely have an obligation to do so. I have five patents myself so I am somewhat aware of the law in this area. Oh also, this is not just US patent law. Most of the laws on patents have been "internationalized". The USPTO has actually changed certain elements of the patent process over the last 6 or 7 years so that most of this stuff is pretty standard all over the world in the industrialized nations. You wont get away with much more in europe for example. Regards Hank Regards Hank > I can only argue it wasn't a willful infringement, and thus only pay the > "actual loss", instead of three times the actual loss plus lawyer expenses. > Under US patent law, as I understand it, it's my responsibility when I > create a new product to make sure I don't infringe. > > > And those patents can be just about anything. I'm amazed at what "slips > through" the patent lawyers... With the money to back it up you can probably > patent "graphics in browser". Sure, it can be found invalid at a later date, > but if you want to refute it you have an expensive battle ahead of you. > > > Has Macromedia patented "snap to grid"? (6,337,703) Multisampling? > (5,940,080) Font kerning? (5,623,593). I find it ridiculous that these > things can be patented. > > I think that in the end, US patent law is what's going to make open source > big. This is what makes me want put extra time and effort into creating open > software that challenges the multinational corporations' products. > > /Jonas > > -- > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.9/216 - Release Date: 2005-12-29 > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > osflash mailing list > [email protected] > http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > > > _______________________________________________ osflash mailing list [email protected] http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
