fuzzybunny

The scenario I'm worried about may still be a valid concern under the new license.

Here is the scenario:

1. Google decides to buy my company in 2016.

2. They ask me to purge my codebase of React, so I switch to Angular.

3. Some years later, Google decides to sue Facebook over a blimp route optimization algorithm.

4. Facebook responds: "Well Google, one of your subsidiaries used React back in 2015 before you bought them, and now that you're suing us, that grant is no longer valid, so you're now liable for infringements on our React patents."

So with that scenario in mind, Google chooses to pass on buying my company, leaving some smaller acquirers, and maybe Facebook as possible buyers.

Please tell me this is not how it works. I would love to use React, but I can't bet the farm on this without more assurance.

Can anyone comment on whether corporate M&A departments are concerned with this license? An aquirer would either have to rewrite much of the code of their newly acquired startup, or they would lose the ability to initiate a patent suit. According to [1], Google is not able to use React. How much of a concern is this when considering a new aquisition? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9271246

Try reading it again. The license still stands if facebook sues you first, and you counter-sue. If you initiate, you lose your grant.