Microsoft Patents XML Schemas
Posted on:: February 13th, 2004
In response to my post about a Microsoft presentation at Emerging Tech, Bob “Professor” Morris points us to a Microsoft page that explains something important about its XML schema for Word, Excel, etc.:
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, Microsoft’s patents prevent me from writing a program that reads a Word XML file? Wow, that’s harsh.
And besides, isn’t “schema” already a plural?
Categories: Uncategorized dw
“Schema” is singular. The plural, if you’re a true pedant, is “schemata”. Greek, not Latin.
Microsoft Patents XML Schemas
In response to my post about a Microsoft presentation at Emerging Tech, Bob “Professor” Morris points us to a Microsoft page that explains something important about its XML schema for Word, Excel, etc.: Microsoft may have patents and/or patent application
D’oh!
I think this whole thing is stickier due to the copyright vs. patenting of software.
Several paragraphs down is:
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.
Which would prevent you from writting an app that used the schemata and call it your own. With attribution you could write your schema read/write app.