Abstract
Abstract This chapter turns to patents, which are exclusionary rights granted to inventors over an invention. It first looks at why patents are relevant to FOSS — briefly, the question of software patentability and the differences with copyright, and then, taking into account the free software development and licensing models, the chapter considers what the impacts are for FOSS: the interrelations and frictions areas between free software licensing models and patents. Next, how patents are dealt with by the community from a structural point of view — particularly patent-related licensing provisions in free software licences — is reviewed. A discussion of the litigation environment, specifically as it relates to patent assertions against FOSS, is discussed. Finally, how the risks posed by patents — or the way patents are wielded — to the FOSS community may be mitigated, if not removed entirely, are summarised.
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