Specifications and Patents
The original 16 bit WMF file format was fully specified in volume 4 of the 1992 Windows 3.1 SDK documentation (at least if combined with the descriptions of the individual functions and structures in the other volumes), but that specification was vague about a few details. These manuals were published as printed books available in bookstores with no click through EULA or other unusual restrictions (just a general warning that if purchased as part of a software bundle, the software would be subject to one).
Over time the existence of that historic specification was largely forgotten and some alternative implementations resorted to reverse engineering to figure out the file format from existing WMF files, which was difficult and error prone. In September 2006, Microsoft again published the WMF file format specification in the context of the Microsoft Open Specification Promise, promising to not assert patent rights to file format implementors.
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