[Asterisk-Users] G.729 licensing/patent?

[Damjan]

This is getting slighlty off-topic, but is also an import issue for any
free-software project ... and, I'd say for the greater population. 
"The patents that came to destroy us" saga :)

> > The laws in norway currently don't allow patenting algorithms as with
> > many other countries. Does this mean I can use G.729
> > (http://www.vovida.org/applications/downloads/G729A/) without bothering
> > the license?
> 
> First of all, the patents that concern G.729 are *not* for algorithms.
> They are for signal processing apparatus. At least that is what the
> patent applications claim and on which grounds those patents have been
> granted. Had the applications claimed algorithms, the patents would
> not have been granted in the first place. It is a matter of
> interpretation by the examiner at the relevant patent office. The
> examiner bought the story that the claims were for apparatus, not
> algorithms, and as a result the patents were granted and are legally
> in force.

It seems that the current practise is that until a court validates a
patent its not really "in force". The reason for this is that patent
offices have not done their job and grant most of the patent
applications, so its up to courts and civil suits to settle the patent
issue. 
Ofcourse being sued by a big corporation is not on the agenda for
most people - thats why most people want to stay away from patents,
however hard that is...


-- 
damjan | дамјан
This is my jabber ID --> damjan at bagra.net.mk <-- not my mail address!!!