Patents And Open Source Could Face A Time-Out

摘要

The opponents of proliferating software patents who see them as a threat to open source software may finally get their day in court—the U.S. Supreme Court. The critics have been itching for this opportunity for years. But the Supreme Court rarely reviews patent cases, which usually are decided by federal appeals courts. The top court, however, has agreed to hear three patent cases this fall, though only one relates to the impact of patents on open source software.