July 11, 2019 at 16:04The Open Invention Network has more than three thousand licensees - what does it mean for open source software
The Open Invention Network (OIN) is an organization that holds software patents related to GNU / Linux. The organization’s goal is to protect Linux and related software from patent claims. Community members transfer their patents to a common pool, thereby allowing other members to use them on a royalty-free license. Photos - j - Unsplash
The founders of the Open Invention Network in 2005 were IBM, NEC, Philips, Red Hat, Sony, and SUSE. One of the reasons for the appearance of OIN is Microsoft's aggressive Linux policy. Representatives of the corporation said that the developers of the operating system violated more than three hundred patents.
Microsoft has since changed its mind about open source software. Last year, the company even became a member of the Open Invention Network (more on this below). However, patent disputes in the IT industry have not gone away - companies often change the rules for licensing their products and file lawsuits.
An example would be a lawsuit.between Oracle and Google. Oracle has accused Google of illegal use of Java and violation of seven patents in the development of Android. The trial has been going on for almost ten years with varying success for both companies. The last trial in 2018 was won by Oracle . Now the second company is going to appeal and resolve the matter in the US Supreme Court.
To avoid such situations in the future, more and more organizations (including Google) join the OIN and share their licenses. At the end of June, the number of licensees exceeded three thousand . In the list you can find companies such as WIRED, Ford and General Motors, SpaceX, GitHub and GitLab and thousands of others.
More areas of activity. At the very beginning, only Linux was involved in OIN. With the development of the organization, its activities affected other areas of open source software. Today, the company's portfolio includes patents from areas such as mobile payments, blockchain technology, cloud computing, the Internet of things, and automotive development. With the development of the community, this spectrum will continue to expand.
More open source projects. The OIN portfolio includes over two million patents and applications. With the advent of new companies, this number will increase. Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation , once noted that Linux owes much of its success to OIN. In the future, OIN will help with the creation of other landmark projects.
Since the beginning of this year, 350 new companies and communities have joined OIN, and over the past two years their number has increased by 50%.
Just last year, Microsoft transferred more than 60,000 patents to OIN. According to the CEO of Open Invention Network, they cover almost all of the company's developments - both old and new. Examples are technologies related to Android, the Linux kernel and OpenStack, as well as LF Energy and HyperLedger.
Photo - Jungwoo Hong - Unsplash
Also in 2018, two Chinese giants Alibaba and Ant Financial became members of OIN . Around the same time, OIN joinedTencent is the largest investment company that specializes in Internet services, developments in the field of artificial intelligence systems and electronic services. The exact number of patents granted by companies is unknown. But there is an opinion that there were quite a few of them, given the fact that since 2012, China has been the leader in the number of patent applications.
Also , a major electronics contractor from Singapore, Flex, recently joined OIN . The company actively uses Linux in its data centers and manufacturing enterprises. Flex representatives say they will do everything possible to protect a free operating system from the risks associated with violation of rights.
In general, all participants of the Open Invention Network and project managers hope that in the future an even greater number of companies will join them.
What do they do at OIN
The founders of the Open Invention Network in 2005 were IBM, NEC, Philips, Red Hat, Sony, and SUSE. One of the reasons for the appearance of OIN is Microsoft's aggressive Linux policy. Representatives of the corporation said that the developers of the operating system violated more than three hundred patents.
Microsoft has since changed its mind about open source software. Last year, the company even became a member of the Open Invention Network (more on this below). However, patent disputes in the IT industry have not gone away - companies often change the rules for licensing their products and file lawsuits.
An example would be a lawsuit.between Oracle and Google. Oracle has accused Google of illegal use of Java and violation of seven patents in the development of Android. The trial has been going on for almost ten years with varying success for both companies. The last trial in 2018 was won by Oracle . Now the second company is going to appeal and resolve the matter in the US Supreme Court.
To avoid such situations in the future, more and more organizations (including Google) join the OIN and share their licenses. At the end of June, the number of licensees exceeded three thousand . In the list you can find companies such as WIRED, Ford and General Motors, SpaceX, GitHub and GitLab and thousands of others.
What does this mean for the industry
More areas of activity. At the very beginning, only Linux was involved in OIN. With the development of the organization, its activities affected other areas of open source software. Today, the company's portfolio includes patents from areas such as mobile payments, blockchain technology, cloud computing, the Internet of things, and automotive development. With the development of the community, this spectrum will continue to expand.
More open source projects. The OIN portfolio includes over two million patents and applications. With the advent of new companies, this number will increase. Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation , once noted that Linux owes much of its success to OIN. In the future, OIN will help with the creation of other landmark projects.
“The activities of the Open Invention Network and the patent protection that it provides will contribute to the emergence of new open software products and accelerate their development,” comments Sergey Belkin, Head of Project Development at 1cloud.ru . “For example, organizations already own patents that helped create ASP, JSP, and PHP.”
Who recently joined the organization
Since the beginning of this year, 350 new companies and communities have joined OIN, and over the past two years their number has increased by 50%.
Just last year, Microsoft transferred more than 60,000 patents to OIN. According to the CEO of Open Invention Network, they cover almost all of the company's developments - both old and new. Examples are technologies related to Android, the Linux kernel and OpenStack, as well as LF Energy and HyperLedger.
Photo - Jungwoo Hong - Unsplash
Also in 2018, two Chinese giants Alibaba and Ant Financial became members of OIN . Around the same time, OIN joinedTencent is the largest investment company that specializes in Internet services, developments in the field of artificial intelligence systems and electronic services. The exact number of patents granted by companies is unknown. But there is an opinion that there were quite a few of them, given the fact that since 2012, China has been the leader in the number of patent applications.
Also , a major electronics contractor from Singapore, Flex, recently joined OIN . The company actively uses Linux in its data centers and manufacturing enterprises. Flex representatives say they will do everything possible to protect a free operating system from the risks associated with violation of rights.
In general, all participants of the Open Invention Network and project managers hope that in the future an even greater number of companies will join them.
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