a ▁license ▁is ▁required ▁in ▁order ▁to ▁implement ▁ex F AT ▁and ▁use ▁it ▁in ▁a ▁product ▁or ▁device ." ▁Un lic ensed ▁distribution ▁of ▁an ▁ex F AT ▁driver ▁would ▁make ▁the ▁distrib utor ▁li able ▁for ▁financial ▁dam ages ▁if ▁the ▁driver ▁is ▁found ▁to ▁have ▁viol ated ▁Microsoft ' s ▁pat ents . ▁While ▁the ▁pat ents ▁may ▁not ▁be ▁en force able , ▁this ▁can ▁only ▁be ▁determined ▁through ▁a ▁legal ▁process , ▁which ▁is ▁expensive ▁and ▁time ▁cons uming . ▁It ▁may ▁also ▁be ▁possible ▁to ▁achieve ▁the ▁intended ▁results ▁without ▁in fr ing ing ▁Microsoft ' s ▁pat ents . ▁In ▁October ▁ 2 0 1 8 , ▁Microsoft ▁released ▁ 6 0 , 0 0 0 ▁pat ents ▁to ▁the ▁Open ▁In vention ▁Network ▁members ▁for ▁Linux ▁systems , ▁but ▁ex F AT ▁pat ents ▁were ▁not ▁initially ▁included ▁at ▁the ▁time . ▁There ▁was , ▁however , ▁discussion ▁within ▁Microsoft ▁of ▁whether ▁Microsoft ▁should ▁allow ▁ex F AT ▁in ▁Linux ▁devices , ▁which ▁eventually ▁resulted ▁in ▁Microsoft ▁publishing ▁the ▁official ▁specification ▁for ▁open ▁usage ▁and ▁re le asing ▁the ▁ex F AT ▁pat ents ▁to ▁the ▁O IN ▁in ▁August ▁ 2 0 1 9 . ▁ ▁A ▁F USE - based ▁implementation ▁named ▁f use - ex f at , ▁or ▁ex f at - f use , ▁with ▁read / write ▁support ▁is ▁available ▁for ▁Free B SD , ▁multiple ▁Linux ▁distributions , ▁and ▁older ▁versions ▁of ▁Mac ▁OS ▁X . ▁It ▁supports