Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

I am signing a service contract with a major tech company for the production of products in part built on open source software platforms. Should I be concerned about indemnification obligations stated under the contracts and how that relates to the underlying FOSS license agreements? Where should I look for more guidance/comfort?


Asked on 5/18/11, 9:58 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

It depends to a large extent on the size of your contract. Does it involve $1,000, $100,000 or $10,000,000? At the very least, you should read the underlying agreements. If it is a high-value contract, have a business lawyer read them. How many separate licenses? You may find very quickly that they are very similar....there is a tendency for tech contracts to be copied from other folks' rather than created anew. For an overall background, you might want to buy and read (or skim) "The Tech Contracts Handbook - Software Licenses and Technology Services Agreements for Lawyers and Businesspeople" by David W. Tollen and published by the American Bar Association's Section of IP Law.

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Answered on 5/19/11, 9:29 am


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