Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Further protections.
Unfortunately for open source hardware, the patent system,
in the United States at least, has gotten out of hand. Prior art is what allows open
source hardware to be recognized and stay open rather than patented. Many open
source hardware creators recognize that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO) is not doing a comprehensive job of finding prior art when awarding pat-
ents. Dealing with a change on this level will take an enormous effort and may end
up with open source hardware inventors facing layers of unwanted bureaucracy
and piles of paperwork. However, one benefit of an open source hardware reposit-
ory would be that the USPTO could check it against patent applications for prior
art.
Use of the open source hardware logo.
The Open Source Hardware Association
recognizes that it is the institution best situated to complete the previously men-
tioned tasks, and many people are asking OSHWA to do just that. Although imple-
mentation of the prior tasks may take a while and the community may change dir-
ections, the best way that OSHWA will be able to tackle any of these items is to
ensure that there is a way to easily identify which projects are open source without
digging for source files. Using the open source hardware logo (find links to the
files in
Chapter 14
or on
www.oshwa.org
)
on your work will make it easy for the
laundry label or repository committee to identify it as open source. One can ima-
gine a future where the USPTO has a poster of the open source hardware logo to
compare with logos on source files and thereby identify open source hardware, in-
validating similar patents. It's a starry-eyed future—but most of my futures are.
In the 1980s, few thought open source software was a legitimate business model. Even
10 years ago, it was not as big of an industry as it is today. Open source hardware is still
immature, but is currently at least a $100 million industry, if not more. What will it be in
10 years if we follow a growth pattern like the one demonstrated by the open source soft-
ware movement? Will open source hardware be running the Internet? Open source hard-
ware has so many opportunities to grow in different directions. It can lead education in
how people use, personalize, and fix their hardware, ranging from electronics to tractors.
Open source hardware can make people more educated buyers and more impactful users.
It can facilitate the conversation between users and companies. It can make companies
more competitive, which benefits the consumer. Open source hardware can help in disas-
ter relief situations and initiatives paid for by the public, where knowledge about making
the world a better place should belong to the people rather than to a business. Open source
hardware saves time for inventors by allowing them to build off the knowledge of others
and produce new things faster than ever before.
Groups working together in the open source community will quickly surpass closed
groups through innovation and utilizing one another's shared work. It's not about rein-
