Re: How can we submit code patches that implement our (pending) patents?

On Tue, Jul 10, 2018 at 09:47:09AM -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> "Tsunakawa, Takayuki" <tsunakawa(dot)takay(at)jp(dot)fujitsu(dot)com> writes:
> > From: Nico Williams [mailto:nico(at)cryptonector(dot)com]
> >> ... But that might reduce the
> >> size of the community, or lead to a fork.
>
> > Yes, that's one unfortunate future, which I don't want to happen of
> > course. I believe PostgreSQL should accept patent for further
> > evolution, because PostgreSQL is now a popular, influential software
> > that many organizations want to join.
>
> The core team has considered this matter, and has concluded that it's
> time to establish a firm project policy that we will not accept any code
> that is known to be patent-encumbered. The long-term legal risks and
> complications involved in doing that seem insurmountable, given the
> community's amorphous legal nature and the existing Postgres license
> wording (neither of which are open for negotiation here). Furthermore,
> Postgres has always been very friendly to creation of closed-source
> derivatives, but it's hard to see how inclusion of patented code would
> not cause serious problems for those. The potential benefits of
> accepting patented code just don't seem to justify trying to navigate
> these hazards.

Just to add a summary to this, any patent assignment to Postgres would
have to allow free patent use for all code, under _any_ license. This
effectively makes the patent useless, except for defensive use, even for
the patent owner. I think everyone here agrees on this.

The open question is whether it is useful for the PGDG to accept such
patents for defensive use. There are practical problems with this (PGDG
is not a legal entity) and operational complexity too. The core team's
feeling is that it not worth it, but that discussion can be re-litigated
on this email list if desired. The discussion would have to relate to
such patents in general, not to the specific Fujitsu proposal. If it
was determined that such defensive patents were desired, we can then
consider the Fujitsu proposal.

--
Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> http://momjian.us
EnterpriseDB http://enterprisedb.com

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