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80% of MS Server Protocols Are Unpatented

Posted by timothy on from the minefield-aerobics dept.

perlow writes "ZDNet blogger Jason Perlow and Centrify's Tom Kemp discover that 80 percent of all Microsoft server protocols are un-patented. What exactly then, did SAMBA license? Are Microsoft's patent and intellectual property threats simply the growls of a paper tiger?"

3 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. As a wild guess... by Goaway · · Score: 3, Informative

    Perhaps they licensed the 20%?

  2. Shipping code precludes patenting by dpilot · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is obvious, but since nobody has said it, and since this specific topic hasn't come up yet on other /. patent discussions...

    IANAL, but...

    Shipping your product is equivalent to publication. It start a timer, 1 year in some places, 6 months in others. You have to have your patent applications into the office within that time, or the art is considered "published" and can never be patented. The definition of "shipping" can be pretty darned nebulous, as well. Sending out a beta with a regular NDA is also probably considered publication. You've got to get quite a bit more serious about the restrictions to have a hope of preserving patent rights, from what I understand, and it fact it may be just plain impossible, once it goes out your doors.

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
  3. Re:WTF? by ischorr · · Score: 4, Informative

    I agree, it does seem like they're trying to imply that there's only a 1 out of 5 chance that anything related to the Samba technical detail licensing is patented.

    Here is a relevant link:

    http://samba.org/samba/PFIF/ - The Samba licensing announcement.

    The announcement has a lot of ambiguities (and IANAL), but it appears hey agreed that:

    1) Samba Team members would receive access to protocol documentation. This information would only be available to Samba Team members, and available only under NDA
    2) Access to information would not restrict CODE that could be produced using this information
    3) It does not provide any patent coverage.
    4) However, Microsoft would provide a list of patents covering the protocols used by Samba, and keep the list updated. This provides Samba folks a way to understand exactly what methods to avoid - which infringe patents.
    5) Microsoft agreed that any patents not detailed in this list and found to be infringed cannot be "asserted" by Microsoft.

    Presumably, there are items that MS will provide for #4, so there are patents that relate to Samba.