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Re: Cisco EIGRP patent licence and the GPLv2 licence



* Paul Jakma:

> It's less clear to me though whether there is an issue on the copyright 
> and GPLv2+ licence side. The concern that has been raised with me is 
> that the Cisco grant is conditional and revocable with potential 
> royalties applying, while the GPLv2+ seems to require unconditional, 
> non-revocable patent grant.
>
>   "7. ... For example, if a patent
>    license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by
>    all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then
>    the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to
>    refrain entirely from distribution of the Program."

But that only applies after a patent dispute, so I don't see how this
is relevant to the discussion.  The GPL, version 2, does not say
anything about the need to obtain patent licenses proactively, which
would be a futile effort anyway in most cases.


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