The project ought to rip that code out ASAP (or talk with a lawyer), as the guy does appear to have some kind of patent, doesn't appear to have a good grasp of intellectual property and is acting like a loose cannon. Maybe tomorrow he won't approve of Canadians using his algorithms or banks, or YC startups, or who knows what. Or he could sell the patent to someone who could then go after the users of the open source package.
Why is he acting like a loose cannon? BSD does not include anything about patents, and he apparently offered a patent grant only in the context of Open Refine.
So you think it's deliberately malicious? Get a bunch of people to use the code and then shake them down with the patent? I don't read it that way, but either way it's toxic stuff for an open source project used by companies.
You put out code under a BSD license and people have some reasonable expectations that they can use that code.
I don't see anything about a patent grant - do you have a link to that?
What's more, his patent application was rejected, both for non-patentability, and on similar grounds as a previously rejected patent of a similar nature. Type the application number into USPTO's PAIR website at [1] for details. (Edit: app. no. 11/890,334)
