Trendmicro is suing Barracuda Networks who uses ClamAV a free and open source anti-virus software, for patent infringement. The patent in question is virus scanning at the email gateway, which might not stand as they were many prior arts before TrendMicro's filing in 1995.
You can read more here.
What does this whole episode mean to you? If you use ClamAV to scan your email gateway, you might be the next target to pay up. Even if you are not a ClamAV user nor a Linux user, but in the course of your work or home usage, you have most likely use some Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) such as Firefox, OpenOffice, Thunderbird mail, some zipping utitilities, and etc. If the lawsuit is successful, it will encourage more "bogus patent abusers" who are not the inventor but patented some obvious and/or prior arts for the purpose of profiteering to do the same.
Stop this madness!
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