Is it illegal to implement a patented algorithm or method and take advantage from it? I have been working on an SW project that combines image processing and IMU data since 2019. (Mobile platform) Unfortunately, a company got a patent on the same method that I have been working on and started selling their product last year (2020). Seems like the only way is to make a free version of my software and get profit out of advertisements. Will it be illegal? Or is there a better way to avoiding patent infringement? Open-sourcing is the last option and if I do that it will be to add one more line to my CV without getting any profit out of the project.
You cannot use a patented invention without permission A patent gives the owner exclusive rights to use it: not just profit from it. The only way you can use their patent is by licensing it. You cannot make any version of the software that uses the patented method, free or otherwise. Technically, the software you have now is infringing even if you never release it. If you had published your work before they filed for the patent, you can seek to have their patent invalidated due to the existence of prior art. If you had been using it privately prior to this some jurisdictions will allow you to keep using it privately.
Electronic designs can be patented provided they meet the criteria for a patentable idea. But patenting a design using specific ICs is probably not a good idea as all someone has to do is redesign the same function using different ICs and they have worked around your patent. The best approach is to patent your circuit function using &quot;functional blocks&quot; that are more generic so that the overall circuit's function, which is the novel idea, it patented and not the specific implementation. Patents can be tricky to navigate. You might do well to consult a patent attorney who can advise you how best to protect your intellectual property.
There are a tangle of issues going on in this question. First, distribution of hardware-related code in commerce might very well void any right you have to patent the software and might bring it into the public domain for purposes of patent law. Publicly disclosed inventions, even if protected by copyright, are part of the &quot;prior art&quot; and can't be protected by patents. Second, you have to disclose the material ideas in an invention in order to patent it, in your patent application. The bargain of a patent is that you get protection for about two decades in exchange for contributing your idea to the public domain when it expires. Third, usually people protect software with copyright rather than patent, although there are pros and cons to each approach. Fourth, if someone knows enough about your invention to subpoena the place where you store it, you have probably disclosed too much information pre-application to patent it. Fifth, usually the &quot;real&quot; target of a subpoena gets notice of it and an opportunity to defend against the subpoena (e.g. for improperly disclosing a trade secret) before it is carried out, but the same does not apply, for example, to National Security Letters under the Patriot Act (which are supposed to be used only in national security investigations or counter-terrrorism operations, but might be abused). Certainly, an ordinary person can't issue a National Security Letter for private commercial gain without corrupt government assistance. Sixth, to issue a subpoena, there must be some pending case to which someone can claim the subpoena is relevant. A random person can't just subpoena information because they want to. Seventh, even if a server host isn't based in the United States, that doesn't mean that there isn't some means by which a court might assert subpoena power over information on server host. There are many legal &quot;hooks&quot; that could apply. Eighth, defending an isolated subpoena isn't terribly expensive. Typically, you'd be looking at a legal fee in the $1000 to $5,000 (U.S.) range, which is much, much less than the dollar cost of patenting an invention in any country. In short, while there are pros and cons of using a U.S. based server host, people in the IT industry routinely attach far too much importance to this fact which is only very rarely an important one legally. There are many other issues which are much more important in this fact pattern to your ultimate goal.
Due to competition/antitrust laws it can be illegal, more so if the search engine is dominant in the market. This has actually been realized in the EU where they fined Google €2.42 billion for abusing their market dominance and favouring their own Google Shopping service in search results. For further information, that fine has been specifically addressed on this site. In the US, this has not yet come to such a dramatic penalty, but there have been investigations. The FTC has investigated similar search results manipulation among other antitrust issues, but ultimately decided not to file a lawsuit as the changes to the search algorithms "could be plausibly justified as innovations that improved Google’s product." Following this inaction, as of November 2017, the state of Missouri is also investigating Google on the same issue. I'm not certain if manipulating search results on its own is illegal, but with market dominance (like what Google has), it certainly is.
The legal issues are too black and white to have any meaningful impact on an ethics discussion. The IP belongs to A and B can't use it. A's not planning to build a product around the patent is irrelevant to the law and I do not see it bring up any ethical issue, but some people who do not understand patent law might. There might be ethics issues if A hired Josh with the specific plan to fire him as soon as the application was filed and intentionally misled him about these plans. Another issue might be Josh's duty to not disclose A's confidential information (the application does not become public right away), and Josh's duty to not draw B into developing an infringing product.
Just at the offset this does not constitute legal advice, just some opinions I have on this point. Technically, you would not be prohibited to generate speech and use it however you like. Under normal circumstances any output generated by the system that does not contravene the service agreement would be your intellectual property. This would include the text and speech generated. Once you go about the request limit you would naturally be required to pay, but until that time you can use the service as a paying customer. Just to clarify this point I would like to make reference to the service license agreement, clause 3, which make reference to the following prohibitions: (a) copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, decompile, translate, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to extract any or all of the source code of the Services (subject to Section 3.4 below and except to the extent such restriction is expressly prohibited by applicable law); (b) use the Services for High Risk Activities; (c) sublicense, resell, or distribute any or all of the Services separate from any integrated Application; (d) create multiple Applications, Accounts, or Projects to simulate or act as a single Application, Account, or Project (respectively) or otherwise access the Services in a manner intended to avoid incurring Fees or exceed usage limits or quotas; (e) unless otherwise set forth in the Service Specific Terms, use the Services to operate or enable any telecommunications service or in connection with any Application that allows Customer End Users to place calls or to receive calls from any public switched telephone network; or (f) process or store any Customer Data that is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations maintained by the Department of State. Unless otherwise specified in writing by Google, Google does not intend uses of the Services to create obligations under HIPAA, and makes no representations that the Services satisfy HIPAA requirements. If Customer is (or becomes) a Covered Entity or Business Associate, as defined in HIPAA, Customer will not use the Services for any purpose or in any manner involving Protected Health Information (as defined in HIPAA) unless Customer has received prior written consent to such use from Google. Similarly, as specified here: Customer will not, and will not allow third parties to: (i) use these Services to create, train, or improve (directly or indirectly) a similar or competing product or service or (ii) integrate these Services with any applications for any embedded devices such as cars, TVs, appliances, or speakers​ without Google's prior written permission. These Services can only be integrated with applications for the following personal computing devices: smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. In addition to any other available remedies, Google may immediately suspend or terminate Customer's use of these Services based on any suspected violation of these terms, and violation of these terms is deemed violation of Google's Intellectual Property Rights. Customer will provide Google with any assistance Google requests to reasonably confirm compliance with these terms (including interviews with Customer employees and inspection of Customer source code, model training data, and engineering documentation). These terms will survive termination or expiration of the Agreement. You should also take a look at this and this. However, as per the terms of the agreement the speech generated would be your intellectual property, unless otherwise specified. Good luck!
In the abstract, two businesses that cooperate in violating a third party's copyright could both face liability. Applying that information to the facts you gave would amount to legal counsel. If you don't want to tell the client 'no,' you should speak to a lawyer about your potential liability. Beyond the legalities, do you really want your portfolio to advertise that you design sites by ripping other sites off?
It would seem that your song is a derived work. You took the original work and found words that sound the same. If the original work had used different words, your work would have ended up differently. So you have a derived work. Same as making a translation; if the original was different, then the translation would be different, so the translation is a derived work. I was asked "How is this not straight up infringement". But it is. Not only copying is an exclusive right of the copyright holder, but also the creation of derivative works.