Managing IP While Using Open Source: Copyright and Patent Licensing
Assessing Software Options, Mitigating Risk of IP Infringement in Software Development
Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A
This CLE webinar will provide guidance to counsel on managing IP while benefiting from using open source. The panel will review the risks of open source and ways to protect IP rights while participating in open source. The panel will also discuss patent issues that arise in open source.
Outline
- Risks of open source
- Balancing open source and proprietary code—managing and protecting IP software that uses open source
- Protection of IP
- Copyright protection for open source
- Patent protection for open source
- Open source license patent issues
- Express and implied licenses
- Patent license grants
- Patent non-assertion clauses
- Litigation issues involving patents and open source
- Summary of key cases
- Patent infringement defense strategies
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- Legal risks of using open source software
- Balancing open source and proprietary code
- Open source patent issues—licenses, grants and litigation
Faculty
James G. Gatto
Open Source Team Leader
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton
Mr. Gatto is Co-Leader of the firm's Digital Media Industry and Social Media and Games Industry Teams, and Leader... | Read More
Mr. Gatto is Co-Leader of the firm's Digital Media Industry and Social Media and Games Industry Teams, and Leader of the firm's Open Source Team. His practice focuses on all aspects of intellectual property, internet and technology law, including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and open source. Mr. Gatto advises clients of all sizes on key legal and business issues relating to the use of social media, video games, virtual goods and currency, social networks, virtual worlds, mirror worlds, augmented reality, open source user-generated content, location-based services and gamification.
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Heather Meeker
Partner
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Ms. Meeker practices in the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions practice group and is a Founding Portfolio Partner at... | Read More
Ms. Meeker practices in the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions practice group and is a Founding Portfolio Partner at OSS Capital. She advises technology clients on IP matters, including licensing and collaboration arrangements, software copyright and patent issues, technology procurement, open source licensing strategies, and IP issues in investments, mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Meeker is an internationally-known specialist in open source software licensing. Her latest book, Open Source for Business, is a definitive handbook for lawyers, engineers, and businesspersons on open source licensing in business. Her Technology Licensing: A Primer, is a widely used handbook for technology licensing specialists. In 2019, Ms. Meeker was named by Business Insider as one of the 10 people transforming the way the technology industry does business, along with the CEOs of Salesforce, Stripe, and Microsoft. She was the only lawyer on this list.
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Gideon Myles
Director, Intellectual Property
Dropbox
Mr. Myles is Head of IP at Dropbox where he specializes in a variety of IP issues, including overseeing Dropbox's... | Read More
Mr. Myles is Head of IP at Dropbox where he specializes in a variety of IP issues, including overseeing Dropbox's patent, trademark and open source programs. Prior to his legal career, Mr. Myles was a software engineer at IBM Research and Apple Inc. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from The University of Arizona and a J.D. from Santa Clara University.
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