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Unkowingly infringing patents when writing software?

I guess it is possible to unknowingly infringe a patent when you are writing software, what happens when you do so and sell it?

How can you prevent it?

7 Answers

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  • Favorite Answer

    If you violate patent law in any field, the patent holder must serve you with a cease and desist order. If you immediately STOP sale, that normally ends the issue.

  • 1 decade ago

    This did actually happen many years ago, to either Microsoft or IBM I forget which. They invented, completely independently, a piece of networking software only to discover some other guy had already done it and held the patent, which they were forced to pay royalties for the use of. They then wrote a new piece of code to get round having to pay this guy, only to discover the same man had already created that software himself already, and so they STILL had to pay to use it.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    The "intent" doesn't refer to purposefully violating the patent, it refers to intentionally writing the software. If you infringed on a patent you'll have to pay royalties.

  • ?
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    A patent software ought to describe a thanks to make and use the discovery and easily the INVENTOR can get a patent. in case you don't recognize a thanks to make the discovery, then you incredibly have not invented something. At maximum you've conceived of an invention. It feels like you want somebody else to determine out a thanks to "decrease the discovery to prepare". If somebody else reduces your conceived idea to prepare, they're, at a minimum, co-inventors.

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  • 1 decade ago

    You would have to research it, that's how you prevent it. It you sell it, you would have to pay royalties to the patent owner.

  • WRG
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    If you great SW you have a lawyer do a patent search.

  • 1 decade ago

    see if there is an patent on it

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