Re: [ft-devel] Patent info for LCD subpixel filter

[Werner LEMBERG]

> I am contacting you to have some information regarding the patent
> for the LCD subpixel filtering.
> 
> I am currently using the Skia library with freetype, and I noticed
> in your website<https://www.freetype.org/patents.html> that there is
> a patent regarding this feature, but it’s really unclear if it’s
> possible to enable it with no risks or not.

Well, we can't answer this since we aren't lawyers.  We can only warn
that it the ClearType LCD filtering stuff is patented...

> Will it be possible to have more information about it?

Not from us, sorry.

> Or is there a safe way to use the feature?

The next release of FreeType will provide a different LCD sub-pixel
rendering method as the default (called `Harmony'), yielding
approximately identical results.  To our best knowledge the new
algorithm is not affected by any patents.


    Werner