Re: [Patents] Hardware N Software

[PILCH Hartmut <phm@a2e.de>]

> No.  If you modify a circuit design (in an infringing way), and use it
> in a product, you can/will be sued.  The same for software.  There is
> no difference and how the patents are asserted.

You can be sued if you publish the software on the Internet.

> Similarly, no one is going to sue you for ...

It doesn't matter whether people will actually sue you but to what right
they are entitled.  It is enough if they intimidate you.
Such intimidation (and lawsuits) are happening all the time.
Even Internet providers are being bullied into removing software or
switching off servers that host certain domains.

> For the case of making use of a hardware or software patent, no one is
> going to sue you if you are not manufacturing and selling.  First,
> there are no profits to capture back, and the courts can sanction
> companies for filing frivolous lawsuits.

Nonsense.
It is enough if your software is deemed to hurt someone else's profits.

-- 
Hartmut Pilch                                          http://phm.ffii.org/
Protecting Innovation against Patent Inflation       http://swpat.ffii.org/
100,000 signatures against software patents      http://www.noepatents.org/