European Free Software / US patent issue

[Frank Koormann]

* Niall Douglas <s_fsfeurope at nedprod.com> [030116 22:51]:
> On 16 Jan 2003 at 20:20, Arnoud Galactus Engelfriet wrote:
> 
> > Non-commercial activities, including distribution, cannot
> > be an infringement in Europe (unlike the USA). A banner ad
> > on your personal homepage is a definite no-no in such a
> > situation though. 
> 
> How can that be true? Surely then if I wanted to undermine my 
> competitor's patents, I could have a non-commercial group distribute 
> a clone of their product for free and thus depriving him of his 
> profits?

No, in such a case everybody using the product in a commercial framework
is bound to the patent and all its consequences.

Cheers,

        Frank

-- 
Frank Koormann                             <frank.koormann at intevation.de>
 Professional Service around Free Software       (http://intevation.net/)
 FreeGIS Project                                 (http://freegis.org/)