All the definitions I can find for "proprietary" allow patented inventions to fall under them. Standardizing and documenting an algorithm or protocol does not allow developers to use it freely and without royalty.<p>One example of many from define:proprietary:<p><a href="http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&#38;o0=1&#38;o7=&#38;o5=&#38;o1=1&#38;o6=&#38;o4=&#38;o3=&#38;s=proprietary&#38;i=1&#38;h=00#c" rel="nofollow">http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&#38;o0=1&#38;...</a><p>In this case, I believe Chris' terminology is correct. You are instead describing the difference between closed- and open-source.<p>For x264, an implementation of H.264, it is an <i>open source implementation</i> of a <i>proprietary algorithm</i>. In Theora's case, it is <i>open source implementation</i> of a <i>free (as in libre) algorithm</i>. RealVideo is a <i>closed-source implementation</i> of a <i>proprietary algorithm</i>.