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Trevor,<br>
<br>
I read it and did not get it either, so I consulted our current lawyer
Jennifer Daehler. Hopefully Jennifer's explanation below makes sense:<font
color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy; font-family: Arial;"><br>
</span></font>
<blockquote><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy; font-family: Arial;">I can
understand the question. This issue gets handled different ways by
different open source groups. In this form, the intent is that the
suing entity’s patent license is revoked. Here’s an example to help
make it clearer (I hope I won’t cause further confusion! </span></font><font
color="navy" face="Wingdings" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy; font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></font><font
color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy; font-family: Arial;">):<o:p></o:p></span></font>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy; font-family: Arial;">“A” is a
contributor to OSGeo under this Agreement. So OSGeo has the right to
license A’s contributions to the MapGuide OS project.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy; font-family: Arial;">“Entity X”
decides to license MapGuide OS from OSGeo. Entity X then decides that
the portion of the MapGuide OS project that came from A actually
infringes on one of Entity X’s patents. Entity X decides to sue A (or
decides to sue any other licensee of the MapGuide project) alleging
that A’s contribution infringes Entity X’s patent. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p>This
provision says that if Entity X takes this course, then A can take the
position with Entity X that Entity X’s patent license to A’s
contribution has been revoked. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy; font-family: Arial;">In reality,
there have not been too many patent infringement actions launched
against open source projects. However, the fact remains that open
source projects have very little leverage against patent infringement
actions. This provision is an attempt to provide some retribution for
instituting patent lawsuits against contributors to the project. It’s
not any guarantee by a long shot, but it’s a mechanism that a number of
open source projects have adopted. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</blockquote>
Thanks,<br>
Bob<br>
<br>
<br>
Trevor Wekel wrote:
<blockquote
cite="midE95E2DA37954A441A6256D531791F9F804E7E21A@msgusawmb03.ads.autodesk.com"
type="cite">
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<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span class="846252416-23012007"><font
color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">Hi Bob,</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span class="846252416-23012007"></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span class="846252416-23012007"><font
color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">The bottom half of "3. Grant of
Patent License" with regards to litigation is a bit confusing. Does it
mean the suing entity's license granted under OsGeo is revoked, or that
the OsGeo license to the contributed work is revoked?</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span class="846252416-23012007"></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span class="846252416-23012007"><font
color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">Thanks,</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span class="846252416-23012007"><font
color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">Trevor</font></span></div>
<br>
<div class="OutlookMessageHeader" dir="ltr" align="left" lang="en-us">
<hr tabindex="-1"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>From:</b>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:mapguide-internals-bounces@lists.osgeo.org">mapguide-internals-bounces@lists.osgeo.org</a>
[<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:mapguide-internals-bounces@lists.osgeo.org">mailto:mapguide-internals-bounces@lists.osgeo.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Robert
Bray<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, January 22, 2007 10:56 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> MapGuide Internals Mail List<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [mapguide-internals] PSC: Contributor Agreements<br>
</font><br>
</div>
One of the final things we need to do for graduation is deal with code
contribution. The legal team here strongly recommends the use of a
Contribution Agreement to protect both the foundation and the
developers. All developers with commit access would need to sign the
Contributor Agreement form and send/fax it to OSGeo before commit
access could be granted/continued. A fairly good FAQ on contribution
agreements can be found here: <a
href="http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Contributor_Agreement">http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Contributor_Agreement</a>.
<br>
<br>
The proposed contributor agreement can be found here: <a
href="http://mapguide.osgeo.org/files/Individual%20Contributor%20Agreement.pdf">http://mapguide.osgeo.org/files/Individual%20Contributor%20Agreement.pdf.</a>
This agreement was originally put together by Rich Steele and was
recently vetted again by our legal team.<br>
<br>
Please read both over and let me know what you think. This is another
item I would like to bring to motion this week.<br>
<br>
Bob<br>
<br>
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</blockquote>
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