Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Facebook got hate for making the patent grant skewed, i.e. you have no right to sue them for /any/ patent of yours that they use in return for not being sued for the /specific/ patents that cover React etc.


Nope. Nothing in the patent clause made any restrictions on your right to sue Facebook.

It simply made the patent grant conditional on not suing them for patent infringement. i.e. if you want Facebook to pay royalties on your patent, you would have to pay royalties on their patents. If that’s not reciprocal, what the hell is?


Let's try again:

- If you, as the licensee, sue Facebook on /any/ of their patents (not just on the ones that are subject to the patent grant), the license terminates immediately. - On the other hand, if Facebook, as the licensor, is only promising not to sue based on the /specific/ granted patents.

The "any" vs "specific" part is what people where annoyed about.


Are those clauses even enforceable?


When the only way to find out is to incur legal fees sufficient to put most small companies out of business, does it matter if it's enforceable?




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: