2

I have filled a pending patent for my project in USPTO, can I still publish the source code (project) as an open source? What about that if I had a complete patent for it?

MRAN
  • 85
  • 4
  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because (a) it appears to be asking for legal advice, (b) much of the needed information is missing (country of filing, for example), (c) code itself is not generally patentable only the algorithms - and then only in countries which recognize software patents. – kdopen Sep 24 '15 at 16:32
  • @kdopen I did edit the question my friend :) – MRAN Sep 24 '15 at 16:41
  • Unfortunately, the "legal advice" concern still stands – kdopen Sep 24 '15 at 16:42
  • And, from past experience, it can take many, many years for a patent application to be finally granted. I've just had some land which I filed back in the early noughties. – kdopen Sep 24 '15 at 16:43
  • 1
    Hmmm... You've got a really good question here that concerns patents. I'm not entirely sure how this would play out, it looks like a good on-topic question here. If the community deems the open source part coincidental (and that would make this question almost off-topic), this question may be a good question at Ask Patents. Don't cross post, but in the mean time, trying making your question more specific :) – Zizouz212 Sep 24 '15 at 19:19
  • Reading the reasoning behind the patent license of GPLv3 could provide some insight. – Michael Schumacher Sep 24 '15 at 20:43
  • Too broad without specifying a license. – curiousdannii Sep 25 '15 at 00:49
  • 1
    Maybe too broad, but instead of asking for a specific license, I'd like to know what the OP is actually asking for. The reason for the question is most likely some sort of fear or doubt, and knowing that is IMO necessary to answer it. – Michael Schumacher Sep 25 '15 at 08:19
  • @MichaelSchumacher: Given the other recent question by OP, it seems likely that OP's patent-applied idea is something they want to both share publicly and operate for profit. So it seems less "fear and doubt" and more "fame and fortune". – Neil Slater Sep 25 '15 at 09:30
  • Then the doubt could be something like "Could my patent be declared invalid if I distribute an open source project based on it?". This would be a question that we couldn't answer here, but at least it would make this obvious. The opposite would be "Does anything prevent me from releasing an open source project if I have a patent on something it is based on?". – Michael Schumacher Sep 25 '15 at 10:11

0 Answers0