[consulting] Patenting Drupal solutions

[Andrew R. Kelly]

I understand the sentiment amongst the open source developers, but this is a
*consulting* list and a consultant has asked how to respond to a client
question.  IMO I think the question is natural, I'm assuming this is a small
client who is about to shell out a bunch of money for some software work,
and simply wants to know if he can own what he pays for. 

Brett, if I were you I'd do a bit of homework on patenting (maybe start here
http://www.nccmembership.co.uk/pooled/articles/BF_WEBART/view.asp?Q=BF_WEBAR
T_295020 ), because it is an expensive and questionably valuable thing in
the software world, and just give your client the information he/she needs
to get the deal closed (of course qualifying that you are, in fact, not a
lawyer).

Andrew

-----Original Message-----
From: consulting-bounces at drupal.org [mailto:consulting-bounces at drupal.org]
On Behalf Of Adam Mordecai
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2008 2:09 PM
To: A list for Drupal consultants and Drupal service/hosting providers
Subject: Re: [consulting] Patenting Drupal solutions

The idea of patenting OPEN SOURCE software is sort of like worshipping  
The Devil in a Catholic Church full of parishioners in the middle of a  
service. The outcomes would be similar.

If they want a closed source solution, then they should build their  
own rather than trying to copyright the blood sweat and tears of  
thousands of developers all over the world and claiming it as their own.

When you see your client, please laugh in their face and pat them on  
the head as if they are a cute baby goat in a petting zoo.

Adam Mordecai
Advomatic Partner
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AIM: AdamMordecai
Main: (303) 733-0215
Cell: (646) 625-9010
Fax: (646) 472-7993
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Advomatic
243 5th Ave, Suite 460
New York, NY 10016
http://www.advomatic.com

On Dec 12, 2008, at 11:42 AM, Brett Evanson wrote:

I'm working with a client that has asked me this question: "Is
anything we are doing patentable?".

What sort of things are patentable within open source development?
What sort of issues are there with specific licenses? Where do I even
go to start here?

Any help is much appreciated.

-- 
Brett Evanson
brettev at gmail.com
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