Prof. Steven Weber, author of the book, The Success of Open Source, famously said that, property in open source is configured fundamentally around the right to distribute, not the right to exclude. This is radically different from current models of intellectual property that are centered around exclusivity and the right to exclude others. FOSS community leaders like Richard Stallman have been vocal in their opposition to software patents. This talk examines the reasons and delves into the history of the patenting system, the geopolitics of patents and lets the audience decide whether FOSS and software patents can co-exist.