Microsoft makes its 60,000 patents open source to help Linux – The company is joining the Open Invention Network to protect Linux
Microsoft announced today that it’s joining the Open Invention Network (OIN), an open-source patent group designed to help protect Linux from patent lawsuits. In essence, this makes the company’s library over 60,000 patents open source and available to OIN members.
OIN provides a license platform for Linux for around 2,400 companies — from individual developers to huge companies like Google and IBM — and all members get access to both OIN-owned patents and cross-licenses between other OIN licensees, royalty-free.
Microsoft joining is a big step forward for both sides: OIN gets thousands of new patents from Microsoft, and Microsoft is really helping the open-source community that it has shunned in the past.
In theory, this could take the wind out of the sails of those many patent trolls? It will be interesting to hear the commentary unravel about this over the next week or two. This obviously excludes Windows OS and desktop applications.
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Microsoft makes its 60,000 patents open source to help Linux The company is joining the Open Invention Network to protect Linux |