Open source in the legal firing line

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That's perhaps another key underlying factor here: that open source software has simply become too popular, and is proving to be a major threat for many in the software industry. And without one central body to target, it's proving hard for many closed source companies to fight back. Their argument - and business practice - all along has been that when any other organisation impinges on their patent, then they have the right to some form of recompense. Hundreds of millions of dollars a year exchange hands as a result, and the licensing of patented work is a lucrative business in itself.

Open source is, therefore, currently a magnet for legal teams, looking for a chink in the armour and a way to fight back against a movement that's now flowing into virtually all areas of software development. And that's why it all comes back to the one test case.

Whether it was intended to be or not, the case brought by IP Innovation and the Technology Licensing Corporation could now prove to be a catalyst one way or the other, a defining moment in the ongoing war of words, the legal ramifications of which are likely to be felt for a long time to come. Of course it may not make it to a court room in the end, but eventually this fight - even if the names of the plaintiffs differ next time round - will have to take place in a court of law.

Expect the war of words to continue until then. And expect the IP Innovation and the Technology Licensing Corporation case to be followed with keen interest right across the planet.

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