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Strengthen position that data formats should not be patentable

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Assert that YAML remains a data format even when expressing logic.
Explain that patenting data schemas harms interoperability & open ecosystem.
Maintain principled stance against patenting data structures.
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Russell Ballestrini 2025-10-19 07:36:12 -04:00
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content/2025-10-18-who-owns-yaml.rst
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@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ who owns yaml?
**You can't patent the YAML spec.** The YAML 1.2 specification is an open standard maintained by the YAML Forum under the Open Standards Compact. This explicitly protects implementers from patent assertions - no one can claim exclusive rights over the specification through patents. Any implementation of the standard is protected from patent infringement.
**YAML is data, & data is not code.** Even when YAML expresses configuration logic, workflow definitions, or infrastructure-as-code, it remains a data serialization format. Data structures & formats should not be patentable subject matter. Attempting to patent data schemas or configuration formats creates barriers to interoperability & harms the open ecosystem that makes modern software development possible.
Let's find out what licenses actually govern the implementations.
the question