Remembering Paul Fillinich and Licensing C++ from AT&T

[Jan Knepper]

On 6/17/23 16:43, Walter Bright wrote:
> [An early lesson in the advantages of Open Source}
> 
> I was sad to hear that Paul Fillinich, an intellectual property lawyer 
> for AT&T, passed away in 2020. I doubt many people are aware of his 
> contribution to the success of C++.
> 
> Back in 1987 or so, C++ and Objective-C were neck-and-neck in the race 
> to create a better C. I was interested in gaining a competitive edge for 
> my C compiler (Zortech), and wondered which horse to get on. Stepstone 
> owned Objective-C, and had some onerous licensing terms for it. But C++? 
> I made some phone calls, and finally discovered that Paul Fillinich was 
> in charge of IP at AT&T. I contacted him and asked:
> 
> 1. can I get a license to create a C++ compiler?
> 
> 2. can I call it C++?
> 
> Paul laughed. He said nobody had ever asked him a question like this in 
> advance, they usually just went ahead and did things hoping nobody would 
> notice. (Of course, being AT&T's IP lawyer, he did notice.)
> 
> Paul said sure, go ahead. You don't need a license from AT&T, and AT&T 
> didn't trademark C++.
> 
> I owe him a large debt of gratitude, and so does the C++ community. Paul 
> was one of the good guys.
> 
> This enabled a thriving ecosystem for C++, and we all know what happened 
> to Objective-C.
> 
> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36374340

Nice story! You really should write a book someday...!!! :-)
(Will be a different experience)