Comment by rmc

It's a shame that the GPLv3 isn't more commonly used. The GPLv2 has some language & sections that would mean you cannot sue people with patent claims, however, due to how patents and copyright differ, all these things kick in only if you write the code and have the patent, i.e. if Microsoft were to release, under GPLv3, code that they patented, it would be OK. If I write code that implements the H264/mp4 codec, then we can all still be sued for patent infringment.