its there
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/format/xmlpatentlicense.asp
Office 2003 XML Reference Schema Patent License
This document is intended to expand upon the rights that Microsoft
grants to certain Microsoft® Office 2003 XML schemas. As described in
this document, the technical specifications for the schemas include
rights under copyright to make reproductions and to display and
distribute those reproductions, subject to certain terms and
conditions.
The purpose of this document is to provide a patent license to
individuals and organizations interested in implementing software
programs that can read and write files that conform to such
specifications.
Please read this entire document carefully to understand your rights.
Office Schemas
Microsoft Office 2003 includes support for certain XML "schemas"
known
as Wordprocessing ML, Spreadsheet ML, and FormTemplate Schemas. For
purposes of this document, these schemas will be referred to as the
"Office Schemas." In general terms, schemas are document structures
used
for presentation and layout of XML data.
Copies of the technical specifications for the Office Schemas, which
include an associated copyright notice and license, can be found at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/understanding/xmloffice/default.aspx
.
Patent License
Microsoft may have patents and/or patent applications that are
necessary
for you to license in order to make, sell, or distribute software
programs that read or write files that comply with the Microsoft
specifications for the Office Schemas.
Except as provided below, Microsoft hereby grants you a royalty-free
license under Microsoft's Necessary Claims to make, use, sell, offer
to
sell, import, and otherwise distribute Licensed Implementations
solely
for the purpose of reading and writing files that comply with the
Microsoft specifications for the Office Schemas. A "Licensed
Implementation" means only those specific portions of a software
product
that read and writes files that are fully compliant with the
specifications for the Office Schemas. The term "Necessary Claims"
means
claims of a patent or patent application that are owned or controlled
by
Microsoft and that are necessarily infringed by reading or writing
files
pursuant to the requirements of the Office Schemas. A claim is
necessarily infringed only when it is not possible to avoid
infringing
when conforming to the specification because there is no technically
reasonable non-infringing alternative for reading or writing such
files.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, "Necessary Claims" do not include any
claims: (i) that would require a payment of royalties by Microsoft to
unaffiliated third parties; (ii) covering any enabling technologies
that
may be necessary to make or use any product incorporating a Licensed
Implementation (e.g., word processing, spreadsheet or presentation
features or functionality, programming interfaces, protocols), or
(iii)
covering the reading or writing of files generally or covering the
reading or writing of files other than those complying with the
requirements of the specifications for the Office Schemas.
If you distribute, license or sell a Licensed Implementation, this
license is conditioned upon you requiring that the following notice
be
prominently displayed in all copies and derivative works of your
source
code and in copies of the documentation and licenses associated with
your Licensed Implementation:
"This product may incorporate intellectual property owned by
Microsoft
Corporation. The terms and conditions upon which Microsoft is
licensing
such intellectual property may be found at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odcXMLRef/html/odcXMLRefLegal
Notice.asp
<http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/odcXMLRef/html/odcXMLRefLega
lNotice.asp?frame=true>."
By including the above notice in a Licensed Implementation, you will
be
deemed to have accepted the terms and conditions of this license. You
are not licensed to distribute a Licensed Implementation under
license
terms and conditions that prohibit the terms and conditions of this
license.
You are not licensed to sublicense or transfer your rights.
Microsoft reserves the right to terminate this license grant if you
sue
Microsoft or any of Microsoft's affiliates for patent infringement
over
claims relating to reading or writing of files that comply with the
Office Schemas.
You should consult applicable export control laws and regulations to
determine whether they apply to your Licensed Implementation.
Legal Disclaimers
THE PATENT LICENSE GRANTED HEREIN IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT
WARRANTY
OF ANY KIND. ALL WARRANTIES, DUTIES AND CONDITIONS, EXPRESS, IMPLIED
OR
STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND
NON-INFRINGEMENT ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED.
MICROSOFT AND ITS AFFILIATES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES
ARISING
FROM OR RELATED TO THIS LICENSE, INCLUDING INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR SPECIAL DAMAGES EVEN IF MICROSOFT OR ITS
AFFILIATES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES IN
ADVANCE.
Reservation of Rights
All rights not expressly granted in this license are reserved by
Microsoft. No additional rights are granted by implication or
estoppel
or otherwise. Nothing herein grants any rights to use or display any
Microsoft trademarks or logos.
Seth Johnson wrote:
Does anybody have a copy of this page saved, or in their cache? The
language in question appears to no longer be there.
Seth
-----Original Message-----
From: Bernard Lang <address@hidden>
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 13:42:53 +0100
Subject: Re: [Patents] MS Office 2003 XML patented
do you have a coppy of that page ...
it does not seem to exist any longer.
Bernard
On Mon, Nov 17, 2003 at 01:48:11PM +0100, Carsten Svaneborg wrote:
Hi! Just came across the following:
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/format/xmlpatentlicense.asp
Office 2003 XML Reference Schema Patent License
Microsoft may have patents and/or patent applications that are
necessary
for you to license in order to make, sell, or distribute software
programs
that read or write files that comply with the Microsoft
specifications for
the Office Schemas.
So usage of MS Word XML files requires a patentlicense.
:
You are not licensed to distribute a Licensed Implementation under
license
terms and conditions that prohibit the terms and conditions of this
license.
You are not licensed to sublicense or transfer your rights.
The licence is royalty free, but GPL §7 requires the right to
sublicence
patent rights to the people who obtain a GPL program from you.
so in other words Microsoft is using patents to prevent GPLed
programs
from accessing the XML format that MS Word will be using.
This is very good timing, and goes to show how important it is to
ensure
that the software patent directive has articles that protects
interoperativity
from consituting patentinfringemet.
--
Mvh. Carsten Svaneborg
http://www.softwarepatenter.dk