> Under the EPC, and in particular its Article 52,[1] "programs for computers" are not regarded as inventions for the purpose of granting European patents,[2] but this exclusion from patentability only applies to the extent to which a European patent application or European patent relates to a computer program as such.[3] As a result of this partial exclusion, and despite the fact that the EPO subjects patent applications in this field to a much stricter scrutiny[4] when compared to their American counterpart, that does not mean that all inventions including some software are de jure not patentable.
Going back to the original question, I certainly wouldn't want to start an open source project knowing that Qualcomm might sue me for patent infringement. Defending their intellectual property is part of their core business strategy.
From wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patents_under_the_Eur...
> Under the EPC, and in particular its Article 52,[1] "programs for computers" are not regarded as inventions for the purpose of granting European patents,[2] but this exclusion from patentability only applies to the extent to which a European patent application or European patent relates to a computer program as such.[3] As a result of this partial exclusion, and despite the fact that the EPO subjects patent applications in this field to a much stricter scrutiny[4] when compared to their American counterpart, that does not mean that all inventions including some software are de jure not patentable.
Going back to the original question, I certainly wouldn't want to start an open source project knowing that Qualcomm might sue me for patent infringement. Defending their intellectual property is part of their core business strategy.