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OIN Momentum Continues in the First Quarter as Over 70 New Licensees Join the OIN Community in Support of Linux

Leading Technology Companies Sign OIN License

Durham, NC (April 20, 2011) – Open Invention Network (OIN) announced today a substantial increase in the size of its community of licensees during the first quarter of 2011.  OIN intends to continue to sign up additional Linux user community and select technology companies to expand the community of companies covered under OIN’s royalty free license.  In the first quarter, OIN experienced 28% growth in its community of licensees, boosting the community to 334 corporate supporters.  OIN licensees, which include founding members and associate members, benefit from leverage against patent aggression and access to enabling technologies through OIN’s shared intellectual property resources.  

"Sophisticates within technology companies and the greater open source community have come to recognize the value of joining OIN’s licensee community," said Keith Bergelt, CEO of Open Invention Network. "During the first quarter, OIN welcomed companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Facebook, Juniper, Fujitsu General, and others.  We’ve also successfully licensed a number of the leading Linux distributions in the first quarter.  Finally, we greatly appreciate the large number of activist individuals who signed an OIN license in the quarter."

During the first quarter of 2011, the list of new corporate OIN licensees affirming their support for Linux and freedom of action included the following:

  1. ADIOS
  2. AnNyung Linux
  3. ArcheOS
  4. Arrival Telecom, Inc.
  5. BackTrack Linux 
  6. BlankOn
  7. CANtronik Ltd.
  8. Clonezilla
  9. Collabora Ltd
  10. Crazy Cow
  11. CreativeWords.com
  12. David Ayers e.U.
  13. Doudoulinux
  14. eOffice(R) Brands and licensees
  15. eRacks Open Source Systems
  16. Facebook, Inc.
  17. Fen Systems Ltd
  18. Fin.Eng Consultancy Ltd
  19. Forbrich Computer Consulting Ltd.
  20. Foswiki Foundation
  21. Fujitsu General Limited
  22. gNewSense
  23. gnuArtist Linux
  24. Good-Day Inc.
  25. Hellested LLC
  26. Hewlett-Packard Company
  27. The Hyde Company
  28. IBEX ITS
  29. Intranet Engineering GmbH
  30. Juniper Networks, Inc.
  31. KEH, Inc.
  32. Kororaa/Make The Move
  33. Kramer!
  34. Linutronix GmbH
  35. Linux KDuXP
  36. M2X BV
  37. Mandriva SA
  38. MBDSYS S.A.R.L.
  39. Microquest LLC
  40. Muli Management/Ngipi Pty Ltd
  41. Mullikins, LLC
  42. Nexenta Systems, Inc.
  43. NFA.ny Sdn. Bhd.
  44. Omnibond Systems LLC
  45. OMNISOURCE S.r.l.
  46. OpenStack, LLC
  47. Open-SLX
  48. osAlliance
  49. PolTec Electronics, LLC
  50. Protocol Freedom Information Foundation
  51. QRW Software
  52. Rackspace Hosting, Inc.
  53. Redline Phone, Inc.
  54. Serious Cybernetics
  55. The Shadowserver Foundation
  56. Smart Energy Instruments, Inc.
  57. Sporniket-Studio.com
  58. Superuser Korea (SULinux)
  59. SWCS Systems LLC
  60. Symantec Corp.
  61. Sync Corp.
  62. TAS OS
  63. Tin Hat Linux
  64. translatewiki.net
  65. Ubuntu Rescue Remix
  66. The uClinux Project
  67. la Universidad de La Laguna
  68. Veethree Marine and Electronics LLC
  69. Voipro International BV
  70. Waves of the Future
  71. Whizman, Inc.
  72. Wingspan Technology Inc.
  73. YOU Technology, Inc.
  74. ZHAI XIN TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (0xLab)

Patents owned by Open Invention Network are available royalty-free to any company, institution or individual that agrees not to assert its patents against the Linux System. This enables companies to continue to make significant corporate and capital investments in Linux – helping to fuel economic growth. By broadly licensing its rapidly expanding patent portfolio, OIN is disseminating protections across the Linux community and promoting an active dialogue among entities committed to freedom of action in Linux.   The web of Linux developers, distributors, sellers, resellers and end-users that license OIN’s patent portfolio acknowledge and affirm OIN’s commitment to enable Linux and address the ongoing threat from companies that support proprietary platforms to the exclusion of open source initiatives, and whose behaviors reflect a disdain for innovation. 

OIN has amassed a broad portfolio of patents, including patents held by nominees on its behalf. These patents are available to all licensees as part of the patent portfolio that OIN is creating around and in support of Linux. Its license agreement can be found at http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/pat_license_agreement.php.

About Open Invention Network

Open Invention Network is a collaborative enterprise that enables innovation in open source and an increasingly vibrant ecosystem around Linux. It does this by acquiring and licensing patents, influencing behaviors and policy and protecting the integrity of the ecosystem through strategic programs such as Linux Defenders. OIN enables the growth and continuation of open source software by fostering a healthy Linux ecosystem of investors, vendors, developers and users

Open Invention Network has considerable industry backing.  It was launched in 2005 by IBM, NEC, Novell, Philips, Red Hat and Sony.  OIN has received supplemental financial support from Canonical. For more information, visit www.openinventionnetwork.com.

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Open Invention Network, the Open Invention Network logo, Linux Defenders, Linux Defenders 911 and the Linux Defenders 911 logo are the property of Open Invention Network, LLC. All other names and brand marks are the property of their respective holders.

Media-Only Contact:
Ed Schauweker
Ketchum for Open Invention Network
ed.schauweker@ketchum.com
703-963-5238