An argument over intellectual property rights in software that manages train sets has been reported on vnunet as exposing an "Achilles heel" in open source software.
US based proprietary software vendor KAM Industries has alleged that the JMRI (Java Model Railway Interface) available on SourceForge distributed via an open source licensing model infringes patent rights owned by KAM. KAM have reportedly invoiced Robert Jacobson, who runs the JMRI project $203,000 based upon $29 per download. Jacobson has not rolled over and has fought back with a lawsuit claiming that the patent is invalid and that KAM has been involved in various illegal acts.
This dispute highlights one of the risks faced by those developing and using open source software. Although there are many benefits in open source software, it is not immune from claims that someone else owns intellectual property in the software. There is of course the perception that since the software is normally distributed free of charge and as open source is generally believed to be for the common good, owners of prior intellectual property rights will not be overly concerned by open source competition. Indeed, the likes of Nokia, IBM and Sun Microsystems have declared to varying degrees that they will not use their patents against open source software. Also, there is ongoing discussion about how the GPL open source licence model can be improved to deal with possible patent infringment prior to the launch of GPL version 3. However, where prior rights, such as patents and copyright exist, there will be ongoing risks of infringment, both for the developer/distributor of the software and the end-user. Simply going down the open source model will not remove this risk altogether.
The nice thing about this case is that the patent that KAM claim that this chap infringed was applied for after his allegedly infringing software (and its source code) was published. It's good to see that honest folk who take out patents and are careful to keep source code out of the wrong hands can still use the patent system to stamp out these GPL-using communist scum in a case like this.
Posted by: Chris Lightfoot | April 25, 2006 at 07:45 PM
It's no so much a problem with Open Source as a problem with the ever-increasing reach of IP law. The patentability of software is controversial in itself and it's all a result of the US' excessive patent system and other countries wanted to offer companies the same benefits so as not to loose out.
Posted by: NickC | April 27, 2006 at 04:53 AM