My company doesn't allow the use of Hibernate, because "legal department is concerned that there might be conflicts with certain american patents".

I didn't get more info from them, but I assume it is about the firestar lawsuit (see e.g. http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2006/06/red_hat_faces_p.html).

What is the current state of affairs in this matter?

AFAIK, Red Hat hasn't replied yet. It seems that the patent's claim is pretty diffuse. Furthermore, if might not stand a chance of surviving because of prior art.

Is there anything I can show our legal department to change their minds?

We are about to remove Hibernate from our software, and I'd rather cancel that, because we have enough other things to keep us busy.

Sorry, we obviously can not provide you with any information here. Please contact Red Hat sales if you have questions about licenses, patents, indemnification, etc.

Oh, it wasn't so obvious for me. I had hoped that the lawsuit was settled, but unfortunately this doesn't seem to be the case.



Our procurement department is already at it and I am probably not entitled to bypass them. Based on past experience I am afraid they won't come to a conclusion before I retire. :-)

Well, bad luck...