Newsgroups: comp.lang.smalltalk
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!bb3.andrew.cmu.edu!newsfeed.pitt.edu!gatech!news.mathworks.com!news.kei.com!nntp.coast.net!col.hp.com!news.corp.hp.com!hparc12!news
From: Kenneth Green <kenneth@hpato.aus.hp.com>
Subject: PPD legal issue?
Sender: news@hparc12.aus.hp.com (News Daemon ID)
Message-ID: <311FFF60.6D75@hpato.aus.hp.com>
Cc: kenneth
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 03:02:56 GMT
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Nntp-Posting-Host: hpautord.aus.hp.com
Mime-Version: 1.0
X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.0 (X11; I; HP-UX A.09.05 9000/715)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company
Lines: 54

Hello,

I recently reviewed a Nov95 copy of the PPD "Independent
Software Vendor License Agreement". This agreement includes
a clause on Intellectual Property Indemnification which
refers to:

 "..defense of any suit brought against Licensee for infringement
  of United States Letters Patent and United States Copyrights.."

The apparent implication of this wording is that indemnification
is not provided for suits brought outside of the USA.

1) Is there anyone using PPD/VW to develop products for sale to
   third parties (ie. as opposed to products for use within
   the developer's organisation) outside of the USA ?

2) If so, has this been an issue for you ? How did you deal
   with it ? Did PPD agree to amend the clause ?

3) Is anyone aware of any patent or copyright infringement
   lawsuits which have been brought against PPD/VW or the
   developer of a product incorporating PPD/VW ?

   If so, on what grounds, when, for which VW version, in what
   country and where can I get more information ?

4) Do the other ST vendors have similarly limited
   indemnification clauses in their license agreements ?

We see many technical advantages to using PPD/VW for our product
development but clearly cannot ignore a potential legal risk of
unknown dimensions. Technical merit will never out weigh legal
paranoia !


Thank you for your contributions.

Rgds,

Kenneth

-- 
 _______________________________________________________________________________
 Kenneth Green				Hewlett Packard Australia Ltd
 Design Engineer			Australian Telecom Operation (ATO)
 					347 Burwood Highway
 Phone: +613 9210 5541			Burwood East   3130
 Fax  : +613 9210 5550			AUSTRALIA
 
 					Postal address:	
 Email: kenneth_green@aus.hp.com	P.O. Box 221, Blackburn 3130, Australia
 _______________________________________________________________________________
The views expressed are my own and not those of my employer.
