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Comment by alfonsodev | Hacker News Reader

"..we need your permission to use and distribute your code. We also need to be sure of various other things—for instance that you'll tell us if you know that your code infringes on other people's patents.." How can I know that my code doesn't infringes any other people's patents?does it apply if you are not is USA ?

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You can't. And, you shouldn't try to find out, either. It's specifically if you know that your code infringes.

That is a weird statement they make there, especially since the actual CLA as far as I understand it doesn't talk about that, it just includes provisions that you grant a license to all of your patents that the contribution would infringe.

[...] You hereby grant to Google and to recipients of software distributed by Google a [...] patent license [to use and distribute] the Work, where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable by You that are necessarily infringed by Your Contribution(s) alone or by combination of Your Contribution(s) with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted.

https://cla.developers.google.com/about/google-individual?cs...

Extension: in point 5 this is actually covered:

You represent that Your Contribution submissions include complete details of any third-party license or other restriction (including, but not limited to, related patents and trademarks) of which you are personally aware and which are associated with any part of Your Contributions.

It doesn't require you to know if your code infringes patents, it just requires that IF you know, you disclose it.

At any point in time each part of your code is infringing a number of patents that is growing to infinity.

Patents are a tool of harassing others for big companies. The only thing that is important is will a big company sue you or not.

Ignorance is bliss.

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