openAdmin
09-09-2009, 07:20 PM
The Open Invention Network (http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/) , a not-for-profit company formed by members like Sony, NEC, Novell, and Phillips , has purchased 22 patents from Allied Security Trust (AST). AST is a consortium of companies, including Verizon, HP and Cisco, created to buy up patents in a self-defensive move. The group had previously bought these patents from Microsoft (http://www.opensourcegroups.com/www.microsoft.com) in a private auction. Some of the Linux patents sold by Microsoft, were originally held by Silicon Graphics(SGI (http://www.opensourcegroups.com/www.sgi.com)).
The purchase was an initiative to protect against the possibility that the patents could be sold off to patent trolls who might use them against open source companies which in general have always remained very vulnerable to litigation .Patent trolls is a commonly used way of addressing companies whose only reason for existence is to own patents so they can sue companies for violating them.OIN was designed to protect Linux from patent lawsuits and to make royalty-free patents available to open source developers.
Apart from patent trolls, Microsoft has been well known to collaborate with companies that distribute Linux to license technology in the OS for which Microsoft claims to hold patents. Microsoft executives have said that Linux violates more than 235 patents the company holds, a claim open-source proponents have denied.
Keith Bergelt, CEO of OIN has said however that Microsoft was not OIN's target in purchasing the patents.
"Most of the statements that Microsoft has made with regard to patents and Linux have been to generate FUD," he said. "Non-practicing entities, for the most part, thrive on lower-quality patents in the hopes of generating quick returns. OIN's objective was to remove access to these patents from the NPE community."
Source: Wall street Journal
The purchase was an initiative to protect against the possibility that the patents could be sold off to patent trolls who might use them against open source companies which in general have always remained very vulnerable to litigation .Patent trolls is a commonly used way of addressing companies whose only reason for existence is to own patents so they can sue companies for violating them.OIN was designed to protect Linux from patent lawsuits and to make royalty-free patents available to open source developers.
Apart from patent trolls, Microsoft has been well known to collaborate with companies that distribute Linux to license technology in the OS for which Microsoft claims to hold patents. Microsoft executives have said that Linux violates more than 235 patents the company holds, a claim open-source proponents have denied.
Keith Bergelt, CEO of OIN has said however that Microsoft was not OIN's target in purchasing the patents.
"Most of the statements that Microsoft has made with regard to patents and Linux have been to generate FUD," he said. "Non-practicing entities, for the most part, thrive on lower-quality patents in the hopes of generating quick returns. OIN's objective was to remove access to these patents from the NPE community."
Source: Wall street Journal