Recently, SCOs who have received much attention have worried about the IBM's lawsuit, let people feel worried about Linux. SCO accuses IBM uses SCO's Unix software in UNIX software in the Linux operating system that IBM just launched. Industry insiders believe that the results of this litigation will have a huge impact on the structure of the global operating system.
At the same time, Microsoft and Sun reach intellectual property, and spreads "open source software may violate intellectual property rights".
"This is Microsoft to curb the development of open source software, and a large-scale 'legal intimidation' movement launched." Zhang Wei, vice president and chief technology official.
He said that Microsoft's "legal intimidation" strategy is very significant, and many people have begun to have intellectual property issues in Linux and open source software.
"Although there are various questions, most people have a 'intellectual property protection in the end of' I'm not clear. What is the legal basis for intellectual property protection? What is the same? Is China's laws and Western?"
Zhang Wei said that "intellectual property issues" is not unique to open source software. Closed source code software also has problems, but Microsoft has not put closed source code software as an opponent, so it is not emphasized.
He said that the national and Beijing Intellectual Property Supervisors have long noticed this issue and launched a large number of research, discussions and investigations. Strict search is conducted, and experts have been analyzed. The relevant situation of intellectual property rights have been clarified in the current most possible range.
First, in China, the legal basis of intellectual property protection is mainly based on the "Patent Law", "Patent Law", "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" trial. "Copyright Law" is protected by the work itself. For computer software, the problem involved is the display of the user interface. Things displayed on the screen, and the article displayed on the paper is the same as the legal meaning, so the screen display interface is protected by copyright.
However, for graphical elements such as icons, if they are used, if they exceed art, they are not subject to copyright; if the artibility exceeds practicality, copyright protection is received. Therefore, deliberately perform a complete imitation or exactly the same screen interface is a violation of the copyright law. But if the screen interface is just similar, the practicality exceeds the aesthetics, it does not violate the copyright law.
Patent protection is a technical solution, which is a method of achieving a target rather than the result of the target. For example, "Save as DOC Document Format" This matter does not violate the patent law, but if the "Save as DOC Document" function, it is not allowed to use a certain technical solution to violate the patent. As of now, Microsoft applies for 326 patents in China, compared with it in Europe and the United States, many companies currently have not infringed Microsoft's patents in China than to more than 4,000 patents in Europe and the United States.
The "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" is mainly paraly 5 for computer software. That is, "unauthorized use of well-known names, packaging, decoration, or use name, packaging, decoration, resulting in the name of well-known commodities, causing confusion with other people's well-known goods, making the buyer mistakenly thinking that this well-known goods." When developing products, it is necessary to let ordinary consumers can distinguish any of the versions of Microsoft products, and consumers will not confuse both, in order to meet the requirements of anti-unfair competition law. Most domestic companies, including a total of products, without infringement.
"So, if the technical plan of domestic open source enterprises does not violate the patent, it is only similar but different, and the ordinary consumers can distinguish between the outer packaging, don't worry about Microsoft 'legal thread". . Zhang Wei said. (ENET reporter Zheng Zhiyi)
Source: http://www.net.com.cn/
