Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and Intellectual Property Law

Justifying Open Standards and Open Source

Item 5 of the W3C Royalty-Free license, the requirement that a patent license “may not be conditioned on payment of royalties, fees or other consideration,” is the most significant factor for most companies. They face the prospect of licensing some of their patented intellectual property at zero price if they contribute to the development of an industry standard.

How could contributing patents at zero price for open standards ever be justified to company shareholders?

Somehow it must be justified over and over again, because very few companies actually charge royalties for their patent licenses relating to industry standards. Zero price is typical even though it is not yet generally the rule. Companies ...