New Tools for Open Source I/P Risk Management

According to their website, "Black Duck protexIP/development is the industry’s first comprehensive information service that helps corporations develop applications using proprietary and open source software (OSS) while retaining control of, and visibility into, licensing and intellectual property issues." However, as noted by Black Duck's General Counsel, Karen Copenhaver, in the August 4, 2004 issue of E-Week, while Black Duck's programs protect users and developers from many kinds of IP claims, "there's no way to use search technology to find the implementation of a patentable invention. The essence of patent law is inventive activity. Search technology [such as that used in their protexIP/developmentSM software] is ideal for finding copying which is consistent with copyright but not patent law."

For more, see "Linux Companies Address IP Concerns"