RE: How can we submit code patches that implement our (pending)patents?

From: Tom Lane [mailto:tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us]
> The core team has considered this matter, and has concluded that it's
> time to establish a firm project policy that we will not accept any code
> that is known to be patent-encumbered.  The long-term legal risks and
> complications involved in doing that seem insurmountable, given the
> community's amorphous legal nature and the existing Postgres license
> wording (neither of which are open for negotiation here).  Furthermore,
> Postgres has always been very friendly to creation of closed-source
> derivatives, but it's hard to see how inclusion of patented code would
> not cause serious problems for those.  The potential benefits of
> accepting patented code just don't seem to justify trying to navigate
> these hazards.

That decision is very unfortunate as a corporate employee on one hand, but the firm cleanness looks a bit bright to me as one developer.

As a practical matter, when and where are you planning to post the project policy?  How would you check and prevent patented code?


Regards
Takayuki Tsunakawa