The issue is exFAT and Fat32 long filenames. exFAT was introduced with Windows Vista and is what 32GB+ flash media tends to be formatted in. It'll be a long time before this one expires.
There are at least 4 patents involved, extensible file system, name hash lookup, transactional fat, contiguous file allocation. If you look at overcertified'a recent slideshare presentations on exFAT, including the recent HTCIA 2014 exFAT presentation, the patent numbers are listed on the ending reference slides.
>exFAT is a proprietary file system. However exFAT is protected under US patent law, and its initial application was issued on 10 July 2009 under the application number US2008168029.[7] On 12 November 2013, the patent was granted by the US patent office under US8583708.
Patent length is 20 years, so we're looking at least until 2033 before exFat is expired and (safely) freely usable.
> Patent length is 20 years, so we're looking at least until 2033 before exFat is expired and (safely) freely usable.
Nope. For the dates this was filed, length goes from filing date. Depending on how dangerous you want to be, you could argue it expires anywhere from 2024-2028.
