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GraphQL Patent Infringement Issues

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Re: GraphQL Patent Infringement Issues

#73

Post by moocowtruck »

watty wrote: post #63
bcarroll22 wrote: post #15

Serious question. React has been around for a while. Companies like Airbnb and Wix, for example, have been using React for a while. If Facebook were going to leverage this the way people are scared of, wouldn’t there be some example of them using it the way people are scared of? You know, on a company doing something it’s proven that they could make major money on? It’s not like this is a new provision, it’s been aro…

It's a real threat, just blown way out of proportion. The second Facebook leverages this patent clause on ANY company, React is dead and everyone will migrate to Preact / VueJS, etc. This means that the React patent card is a one-time play with HUGE repercussions. Facebook isn't going to target your little company or startup and worrying about it IMO is foolish.

legal just told me it's ok for us to go ahead with react, some guy named watty on HN just set the lawyers straight

Re: GraphQL Patent Infringement Issues

#75

Post by dboreham »

oliwarner wrote: post #50

As I understand it, this is bad because you could use their code within the copyright license but then be sued for using it without the applicable patent license... Making it open source but far from free. Just out of curiosity though, has this sort of backdoor patent infringement actually been tested in court? IANAL, let alone a bitter twisted IP lawyer, but it seems perfectly reasonable to infer relevant patent lic…

Perhaps, but patents can be sold. Imagine a future Facebook sells the patents to BadTrollCo. Now you have two parties : the company that open sourced the thing (hence, perhaps didn't intend to sue people for infringement) and BadTrollCo that wants their pound of flesh.

Re: GraphQL Patent Infringement Issues

#76

Post by hdhzy »

yasserkaddour wrote: post #51

Gitlab put on hold their GraphQL implementation due to the patent. Gitlab Senior Director of Legal Affairs said: "If we were to allow this license, it could lead to potential future conflicts with software licensed under Apache. Also, we could be impairing the future rights of our customers. Essentially, this is not really an open source product based on the implications of the license. While there is no payment of c…

Great insight, thanks for sharing!

Re: GraphQL Patent Infringement Issues

#77

Post by ykler »

peteretep wrote: post #40
ykler wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. How did you manage to get that interpretation?

Actually, that's not a completely unreasonable interpretation. You are then unable to sue FB over patents, so FB could indeed just use any of your IP.

First of all, the whole thing is limited to patents, which are a small part of the IP of most IT companies. If Microsoft uses GraphQL, Facebook can't freely pirate Windows. Second of all, you can still sue FB over patents, you just have to stop using things they are providing free of charge first. Also, there is an exception if FB sues you first. It seems fairly clear that the intent is to avoid litigation over patents, especially software patents, which many people think are a bad thing.

Re: GraphQL Patent Infringement Issues

#79

Post by falcolas »

fnord123 wrote: post #55
tcheard wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The MIT license doesn't change anything in this case, because the MIT license doesn't have a patent grant. This GraphQL situation is different and, arguably, somewhat worse than the ReactJS BSD+Patent license issue. The problem here is the GraphQL specification doesn't have a patent grant (unlike ReactJS, which does, but people don't like the terms of the grant). And Facebook have filed a patent for GraphQL ( https:/…

>Please read: https://medium.com/@dwalsh.sdlr/using-graphql-why-facebook-n... . That post has text of the patents in question. Please warn if you're linking to text of patents so people don't expose themselves to triple damages.

The topic of willful infringement, while unpleasant, is a real concern for many developers and companies. I don't believe the downvotes are justified for a valid concern.
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