Knowledge Tree
patent law
Facts (19)
Sources
Open Hardware Licenses - P2P Foundation Wiki wiki.p2pfoundation.net Jun 17, 2015 6 facts
perspectiveRelying on patent law for hardware licensing is problematic because obtaining a patent is a difficult and costly process, whereas copyright protection is free and automatic.
referenceIn patent law, the concept of enablement requires that an inventor must describe accurately and sufficiently in the patent text how a person reasonably skilled in the art can recreate the invention on their own.
claimIn the United States, it is only considered illegal to violate trademark, copyright, and patent law.
claimMost hardware licenses differ fundamentally from software licenses because they typically rely more heavily on patent law than on copyright law, as copyright licenses control the distribution of source code or design documents, while patent licenses control the use and manufacturing of the physical device.
perspectiveThe TAPR license is considered impractical for most projects because its reliance on patent law makes it difficult to use for all but the largest organizations.
claimThe TAPR Open Hardware License is a share-alike license developed by the TAPR community of radio amateurs specifically for hardware, relying on patent law rather than copyright law.
Why Open Source Stalls Innovation and Patents Advance It ipwatchdog.com Jul 5, 2010 5 facts
claimMany members of the software community mistakenly believe that patent law and copyright law are roughly equivalent and that copyrights are sufficient to protect intellectual property assets associated with software.
claimPatent law functions as a strict liability system, where the act of infringing a patent results in liability regardless of whether the infringer intended to copy the work or was aware of the patent.
claimThe author of the IPWatchdog article asserts that the open source community suffers from a lack of knowledge regarding patent law and spreads myths and disinformation that impede rational debate and progress.
claimPatent law does not provide an 'independent creation' defense, meaning an entity can be liable for infringement even if they developed the technology independently without knowledge of the patented work.
claimPatent law differs from copyright law because it does not include a 'fair use' provision and does not require proof of copying to establish infringement.
What is open hardware? | Opensource.com opensource.com 3 facts
claimCopyright law applies to open hardware source code and design documentation, while patent law applies to design processes and material technologies.
claimClosed hardware utilizes obfuscation and patent law to make the recreation of objects as difficult as possible, typically to ensure vendor lock-in within a supply line.
claimHardware designs and inventions are subject to copyright and patent law, which open source hardware projects use to make designs publicly accessible.
Open-source hardware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia smoothieware.github.io Apr 15, 2016 2 facts
claimMost hardware licenses differ from software licenses because they rely more heavily on patent law than on copyright law, as many hardware designs are not copyrightable.
claimSome open-source hardware projects use existing free and open-source software licenses rather than creating new ones, though these software licenses may not align well with patent law.
Open-source license - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 1 fact
claimOutside parties could potentially control public domain works via patent or trademark law because public domain waivers lack the protections of formal licenses.
Open-source software - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 1 fact
claimCopyright law became the standard for protecting software, with computer programs generally considered a form of literary work, following debates on whether to use patent law, copyright law, or unique regulations.
Open Source Hardware - The Turing Way book.the-turing-way.org 1 fact
claimHardware licensing is more complex than software licensing because some hardware projects are governed by patent law rather than copyright law.