Defensive Patent License

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The Defensive Patent License (DPL) is a patent license proposed by Jason Schultz and Jennifer Urban, directors of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley as a patent licensing equivalent of the GPL copyright license.[1][2][3]

It requires entities licensing their patents under the DPL to license all of their patents under the DPL, with free licenses granted to all other DPL participants.[4] DPL participants remain free to launch patent lawsuits against non-participants.

DPL 1.0[5] was published on November 16, 2013, and a "birthday" celebration held at the Internet Archive.[6] The Internet Archive was designated as the fiscal umbrella organization until it has its own non-profit entity. It was launched on February 28, 2014 at a conference in Berkeley.[7]

  1. ^ Julie Bort (2010-05-07). "The Defensive Patent License makes patents less evil for open source". Network World.
  2. ^ Florian Mueller (May 17, 2010). "Will the Defensive Patent License be able to make patents 'less evil' for Free and Open Source Software?". FOSS Patents.
  3. ^ Schultz and Urban (May 10, 2011). "A Defensive Patent License Proposal". Stanford Center for Internet and Society/YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  4. ^ Jon Brodkin (June 12, 2012). ""Defensive Patent License" created to protect innovators from trolls". Ars Technica.
  5. ^ "License".
  6. ^ "Birthday of the Defensive Patent License: Friday, Nov 15, 4:30-8:00 in SF". November 15, 2013.
  7. ^ "DPL FAQ".