Eric Smith wrote:
IANAL, but multiple lawyers have told me that it is generally a bad
idea
to go looking for patents, at least in the US. If they're brought to your
attention, you should probably do whatever is necessary to avoid them, but
you shouldn't actively seek them out, even just to try to confirm that
you're not using anything patented.
Hunting for patents is one thing (I wouldn't recommend it either), but
looking for obviously patent-encumbered stuff (like MP3 codecs) is another.
Kevin Kofler