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Using Open Source Software in Business

This post was first published on February 19, 2010. Open Source Software (OSS) has certain advantages when compared to proprietary software. It comes with the following benefits: a. The software may be downloaded for free; b. Source code of the software is available, which enables improvement and customization; c. The software generally has a community and the development is faster; d. Support and implementation services are available from multiple sources; and so on. As OSS always comes with a license, the…
November 26, 2018 Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Open Source Licensing 0Comment 1233Views 0Like
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Model to Combat Patent Risks in Open Source Software

This post was first published on May 10, 2010. Professors at University of California Berkeley are proposing a defensive licensing scheme to fight patent risks in development and use of open source software. In one of my earlier posts, I wrote about the risk of patent infringement with respect to use of open source software and steps to mitigate the same. The model being proposed by Professor Jason Schultz and Professor Jennifer Urban may play an important role in minimizing patent…
November 26, 2018 Intellectual Property, Open Source Licensing, Patents 0Comment 653Views 0Like
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Enforcement Action Against Palm for Violation of Terms of Open Source License

First Publication Date: 7th December 2009. Today, Open Source Software (OSS) is being widely used in business as high quality software is being developed by open source communities. Most proprietary softwares have their OSS counterparts, which provide similar or better features. As integration of open source softwares into business is increasing, companies have evolved various business models for commercially gaining from OSS. One of such models is the dual licensing model. Under a dual licensing model, a company makes a…
October 25, 2018 Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Open Source Licensing 0Comment 723Views 0Like
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Open Source Software and Patent Risks

Open Source Software and Patent Risks

First Publication Date: 8th November 2009 Software can be protected under both copyright and patent law. While copyright protection for software existed for a long time, patent protection for software evolved during the last decade. Copyright over software protects the literal and/or artistic elements of the software such as code and/or user interface. On the other hand, a patent over software protects functional elements of the software. The concept of “Open Source Software” (OSS) evolved in response to proprietary software…
October 24, 2018 Intellectual Property, Open Source Licensing, Patents 0Comment 1582Views 0Like
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Common Public License Version 1.0

First Publication Date: 3rd April 2009 The Common Public License (CPL) is an open source license agreement released by IBM. The company holds copyright over the license. It permits the distribution of the license but limits the right to modify it. Softwares such as Windows Installer XML developer tool, Windows Template Library and so on have been released under the Common Public License. Rights The agreement grants a license over the following rights under the copyright law to every person…
October 22, 2018 Copyrights, Intellectual Property, IP Commercialization/Licensing, Open Source Licensing 0Comment 1261Views 0Like
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Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) – Version 1.0

First Publication Date: 3rd March 2009 The CDDL was formulated by Sun Microsystems for development and distribution of some of its software. The license is considered to be one of the most popular licenses. Some of the softwares released under CDDL include, OpenSolaris, NetBeans IDE and RCP, GlassFish, JWSDP and so on.Rights Any person receiving a software under CDDL gets a world wide, non-exclusive and royalty-free license over the software. The license grants the following rights over the software: Copyrights The…
October 22, 2018 Intellectual Property, IP Commercialization/Licensing, Open Source Licensing 0Comment 1154Views 0Like
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Apache License, Version 2.0

First Publication Date: 10th November 2008 The Apache License applies to all software contributed by Apache or any other person under the license. Copyright and Patent License The license grants both copyright and patent rights over any software distributed under the license the licensee (any person receiving or using a software under the license.). The license grants the following rights under the copyright law: Right to reproduce the software; Right to modify the software; Right to publicly display; Right to…
October 21, 2018 Copyrights, Intellectual Property, Open Source Licensing, Patents 0Comment 852Views 0Like
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GNU Lesser General Public License Version 3

First Publication Date: 25th March 2008 Introduction The Lesser General Public License("LGPL") is a license used by the Free Software Foundation for software libraries. The license governs all open source software libraries of Free Software Foundation and many others who choose to use it. LGPL defines terms and conditions for copying, modification and distribution of software libraries. Version 3 of LGPL incorporates all provisions of the General Public License ("GPL") and lays down certain additional permissions for software libraries. Rights A software library governed…
October 16, 2018 Copyrights, Intellectual Property, IP Commercialization/Licensing, Open Source Licensing 0Comment 1255Views 0Like
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Mozilla Public License Version 1.1

First Publication Date: 10th February 2008 The Mozilla Public License (MPL), is a license developed by Netscape Communications. Most of its provisions are same as the Netscape Public License. The license is considered to be a middle ground between the General Public and BSD licenses. Rights granted under the license Any software distributed under MPL grants both copyrights and patent rights to the recipient. The license grants the following copyrights over the software: Right to use; Right…
October 16, 2018 Copyrights, Intellectual Property, IP Commercialization/Licensing, Open Source Licensing 0Comment 1123Views 0Like
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The GNU General Public License

First Publication Date: 4th February 2008 The GNU General Public License ("GPL") is one of the most popular open source licenses. All software released by the Free Software Foundation and many other authors, are governed by this license. GPL provides the freedom to share and modify software under certain conditions. Copy, Run and Distribute GPL allows a person to copy, run and distribute the software governed by it. A person is allowed to distribute verbatim copies of the software, commercially…
October 15, 2018 Copyrights, Intellectual Property, IP Commercialization/Licensing, Open Source Licensing 0Comment 1565Views 0Like
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