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Preservation of implied patent license is unique.
This footnote, co-drafted by me and Richard Fontana, explains the
apparent uniqueness GPLv3's preservation clause for GPLv2's original
implied patent license.
Fontana pointed out this distinction with commercial patent licensing.
I noticed as a further point that even some copyleft licenses, let alone
non-copyleft Free Software licenses, fail to include any clauses
preserving implicit patent license grants. Such is certainly of concern
for those licenses that contain explicit patent licensing provisions.
Fontana notes that during GPLv3 process, he was concerned that an
explicit patent license in GPLv3 might provide a basis for some to later
argue an implied patent license was no longer present. GPLv3ยง11's final
paragraph assures its safety.
This footnote, co-drafted by me and Richard Fontana, explains the
apparent uniqueness GPLv3's preservation clause for GPLv2's original
implied patent license.
Fontana pointed out this distinction with commercial patent licensing.
I noticed as a further point that even some copyleft licenses, let alone
non-copyleft Free Software licenses, fail to include any clauses
preserving implicit patent license grants. Such is certainly of concern
for those licenses that contain explicit patent licensing provisions.
Fontana notes that during GPLv3 process, he was concerned that an
explicit patent license in GPLv3 might provide a basis for some to later
argue an implied patent license was no longer present. GPLv3ยง11's final
paragraph assures its safety.