Katzer demanded $200,000 from Jacobsen's open source model train project (JMRI), alleging patent infringement.
Jacobsen sued him.
After he filed the suit, Jacobsen found that Katzer's commercial product copies some of Jacobsen's JMRI (which Katzer has admitted in court [...] )
Jacobsen lost but appealed, and: A large number of Open Source projects and their attorneys, working for free, filed a "friend of the court" brief - and won.
I see this case not as a victory against patents, but as a victory for basic decency.
Jacobsen sued him.
After he filed the suit, Jacobsen found that Katzer's commercial product copies some of Jacobsen's JMRI (which Katzer has admitted in court [...] )
Jacobsen lost but appealed, and: A large number of Open Source projects and their attorneys, working for free, filed a "friend of the court" brief - and won.
I see this case not as a victory against patents, but as a victory for basic decency.
see also (where I stole it from) http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/752td/a_major_c...