GNOME settles open source suit with NPE
The non-profit GNOME Foundation, which operates an open-source project of the same name, has settled a patent lawsuit brought by a non-practising entity (NPE) linked to inventor Leigh Rothschild.
Rothschild’s suit had taken on significance as being one of the most notable examples of NPE or ‘patent troll’ litigation over open-source software.
It was filed by Rothschild Patent Imaging (RPI), one of numerous NPEs linked to Rothschild, at the US District Court for the Northern District of California last August.
In the suit, Rothschild claimed that GNOME’s Shotwell photo manager infringed a patent for a “wireless image photo manager” he invented in 2008.
The complaint earned Rothschild the ire of organisations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Computers & Communications Industries Association (CCIA), traditionally opposed to ‘patent troll’ and NPE activity.
CCIA patent counsel Josh Landau wrote: “This is a clear example of the kind of patent that never should have been granted that inter partes review (IPR) was designed to deal with.”
But procedures like IPR, or lengthy litigation, may be out of reach financially for organisations like the GNOME Foundation, which recorded just over $1 million in revenue in 2018.
The EFF’s Alex Moss, meanwhile, pointed the finger of blame at the US Patent and Trademark Office for granting the patent in the first place.
“How in the world could a patent on something so basic and established qualify as inventive in 2018?” Moss wrote.
That argument formed the basis of GNOME’s motion to have the case dismissed. “We don’t believe that this is a valid patent, or that software can or should be able to be patented in this way,” the non-profit announced in September.
But the parties have now reached a deal to end the suit. The settlement will protect GNOME and other open-source developers from future Rothschild litigation.
A statement on GNOME’s website said: “In this walk-away settlement, GNOME receives a release and covenant not to be sued for any patent held by Rothschild Patent Imaging.”
It added: “Further, both RPI and Leigh Rothschild are granting a release and covenant to any software that is released under an existing Open Source Initiative approved licence (and subsequent versions thereof), including for the entire Rothschild portfolio of patents, to the extent such software forms a material part of the infringement allegation.”
The news has been welcomed by other open-source advocates. Amanda Brock, director of OpenUK, a non-profit with a similar mission to GNOME’s, said on Twitter that the settlement was to the “benefit of all users of open source”.
GNOME executive director Neil McGovern told Brock, in comments originally published on UK news site The Register: "Apart from the cash, the original offered settlement would only apply for this single patent, only for GNOME and would be confidential! Instead, we now have coverage for over 100 patents, and patents that Leigh Rothschild may come to own in future."
According to GNOME, RPI had made an initial settlement offer involving a five-figure sum when it filed the suit.
“I’m exceptionally pleased that we have concluded this case,” said GNOME executive director Neil McGovern in a statement on the non-profit’s website.
He added: “This will allow us to refocus our attention on creating a free software desktop, and will ensure certainty for all free and open-source software in future.”
Leigh Rothschild himself said: “I’m pleased that we have managed to settle this issue amicably. I have always supported the innovation of open source software and its developers and encourage its innovation and adoption.”
Earlier this week, WIPR reported that the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had cancelled the invalidation of another Rothschild patent, in a beverage dispenser patent suit involving Coca-Cola.
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