Hi, all.

-
Hi, all.

What are the legal risks of using FluentUI (Ribbon) in a Delphi-made software?

I won't use the Ribbon controls shipped with Delphi but https://github.com/turbopack/ribbonframework

I knew there was a licence that we can't use anymore.

Thank you all for your answers.

Comments

  1. Marco CantùOctober 12, 2018 at 12:47 AM

    Daniel Rail Well, kind of. Microsoft doesn't provide a way to get a license, because there is an API in the system now. But that UI is still copyrighted, so not clear if cloning it is legal. They never clarified. I don't think there is any real risk, but formally I don't think what you said is correct -- unless, again, I missed such a statement (and I did search extensively and even talked with people at Microsoft about it)

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  2. Daniel RailOctober 12, 2018 at 5:23 AM

    Marco Cantù I do remember seeing something with regards to that a few years ago. And, you are correct in saying that no specific information is currently available on the Microsoft web page.

    Here's some information that I found that is dated earlier this year:
    https://www.infoq.com/news/2018/02/Ribbon-UI

    And, here's the follow-up on that article, with a Microsoft answer:
    https://www.infoq.com/news/2018/02/Ribbon-2

    And, in the follow-up, Microsoft declined to comment on third-party Ribbon controls.

    But, you know as much as I do, that the basic concept of the ribbon existed long before Microsoft's ribbon(i.e. Delphi 1 to Delphi 7 tool palette). We did use something similar in our application before the ribbon was introduced in Office, but that code is long gone since we replaced it with a ribbon component.

    Also, Microsoft had it as a design patent, not a copyright. Also, the only limitation that the patent licensing had was that you cannot create an application that would be a competitor to the Office products. But, now they are not mentioning that anywhere as a limitation to use them, so I'm not sure if that still exists.


    And, if your contacts at Microsoft can't tell you any further information, then I can only assume that the documentation in question no longer exists or has been hidden in the legal teams "vault".

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  3. Marco CantùOctober 12, 2018 at 6:54 AM

    It is a bit muddy. I honestly don't think any application developer should be worried. We as dev tool builders face a little more risk... at least in theory. Iv'e been asking for a clear statement, haven't been able to get one

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