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Java and patents

Revision as of 22:08, 17 August 2010 by Ciaran (talk | contribs) (* [http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20100416203304695 AST expected to buy Java patents for $100,000], Groklaw, 16 Apr 2010)

Patent risk questions have arisen around Java programming language in the wake of Oracle's 2010 lawsuit against Google.

The situation is a little complicated, but there are pieces of good news.

OpenJDK: the GPLv2 Java from Oracle

OpenJDK is has been distributed by Oracle under GPLv2. GPLv2 includes two implicit patent licences, so users of OpenJDK should be safe, and modified versions of OpenJDK should also be safe (even if they're heavily modified).

The protections in the GPL are unconditional. The software doesn't have to comply with any specifications in order to benefit from these protections.

The Java Language Specification grant

This is a patent grant from Oracle, but only for implementations of Java that fully comply with the Java Language Specification. Supersets, subsets, and other modified versions don't qualify for this patent protectoin.

Open Invention Network

Oracle is a member of Open Invention Network (OIN). OIN gives protection to a list of free software programs which includes the following Java-related packages:[1]

  • libgcj
  • GCC
  • Eclipse Compiler for Java (ejc)

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