Patent #5,473,599 and Free Software implementation

[Alexandre Dulaunoy]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 18:36:03 +0200 (CEST)
From: Alexandre Dulaunoy <alexandre.dulaunoy@ael.be>
To: rbarr@cisco.com, mmcnealis@cisco.com, pr@cisco.com
Cc: activists@ael.be
Subject: Patent #5,473,599 and Free Software implementation

Dear Sir,

We have noticed that you are the patent holder of this (these) patent(s) :

1. #5,473,599 in the US for a Hot Standby Redundacy Protocol 

We would like to know whether you grant a royalty-free license for use of 
the claimed methods in Free Software (see http://www.fsf.org/ ) projects. 
As you know, Free Software actively promotes innovation and the 
advancement of the state-of-the-art in computer science. We hereby also 
inform you of the existence of a publicly accessible webpage 
(http://www.ael.be/node.php?id=52) which contains a list of software 
patents, their owners and whether they are licensed for Free Software 
applications. Should we not receive an answer within 2 weeks, we will put 
your patent under "incompatible with Free Software".

Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact 
me (alexandre.dulaunoy@ael.be) or AEL (activists@ael.be).

Best regards,

Alexandre Dulaunoy