I would prefer that node was part of a non-profit foundation of some kind rather than Joyent, but that is largely under the bridge at this point. It was discussed heavily when this change was made in november 2010:

http://markmail.org/message/wyi2r4ntzlmawp6e#query:+page:1+m...

The thing to keep in mind is that this is just a trademark on a product. It isn't a patent on the idea of a server side evented javascript engine. There is nothing stopping someone from creating another engine that works exactly the same way and that is compatible with all the current modules.

I highly doubt that Joyent is going to slinging around lawsuits as if they were a firm involved in mobile phone patents.

Node.js is MIT licensed, so no, that won't happen.

"Anyone who puts a lot of time or effort into Node at this point and later gets burned has no one to blame but themselves."

Exactly. I was getting into it, but I am going to ditch it until this is all sorted out.