Home - Open Invention Network

Recently Joined the OIN Community

About OIN

OIN is a defensive patent pool and community of patent non-aggression which enables freedom of action in Linux. Learn about OIN’s mission, team, supporters, and more.

OIN Community

Over 2,000 organizations have joined OIN. In support of patent non-aggression. For free access to OIN’s patents. And to gain royalty free access to Linux System patents of other OIN participants.

Our License Agreement

Available to all parties, a completed OIN license agreement provides entry to the OIN community and its benefits. Review the agreement, learn more, and sign up online.

OIN Linux System

The Linux System is the set of technologies in which OIN participants agree to cross-license patents to another. A shared zone of patent non-aggression to promote collaboration.

Press Room

OIN enables freedom of action in open source and Linux, which have been great sources of innovation. Find press releases, coverage, FAQs, resources and more here.

Community Initiatives

OIN supports complementary community initiatives that are good for our community and open source software.

Press Mentions

November 19, 2019
Open Invention Network teams up with IBM, Linux Foundation, and Microsoft to protect open-source software from patent trolls

November 19, 2019
OIN, IBM, Microsoft and the Linux Foundation team up against open-source patent trolls

Read More >>

What people are saying…

OIN is an organization which helps protect the Linux ecosystem by building a variety of defenses against patent attacks…By joining, Mozilla receives cross-licenses from other OIN licensees, but more importantly, for the long term, it affords us a chance to work with OIN in reducing IP threats to open source development and innovation.

Harvey Anderson, Mozilla Project

KDDI is committed to offering high-quality telecommunication service and a variety of IoT service, including vehicle telematics, smart meters and others. Linux and open source are critical elements in technologies which we are developing aimed at such services. By joining the Open Invention Network, we are demonstrating our continued commitment to innovation, and supporting it with patent non-aggression in Linux.

Hiroshi Kawana KDDI Corporation

Open source technology, especially Linux, drives innovation in areas that are critical to the customers that we serve, including technologies such as servers, storage, cloud, converged applications, big data and IoT. By joining Open Invention Network, we are demonstrating our continued commitment to open source technology, and supporting it with patent non-aggression in Linux.

Norihiro SuzukiVice President and Executive Officer - CTO
Hitachi

Yandex likes Linux. We use it, commit to it. We advocate the creation of a secure zone around the Linux kernel, free from patent wars. The same goals are pursued by the Open Invention Network, which unites thousands of companies around the world.

Yandex

With the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) reshaping what is possible in industrial settings— improving productivity, enhancing operational efficiency and increasing customer choice— we view Linux and other open source projects as key enablers in the IIOT. The success of the IIOT is predicated on the ability to connect and manage widely distributed sensors and devices across numerous vertical industries and compute the data effectively on an industrial scale.

Peter KohlschmidtCTO, Moxa

We are excited to join OIN. Since its inception in 2005, OIN has been at the forefront of helping companies reduce patent infringement risks relating to Linux. It does so by creating a voluntary system of patent cross-licenses between member companies covering Linux System technologies. We look forward to working with OIN and its members to protect the Linux ecosystem and also encourage innovation in the open source software community.

Benjamin BaiAnt Financial

The ecosystem in which we operate is changing rapidly. Innovation that was once squarely housed within the community and exclusively oriented towards its collective betterment is increasingly being conducted across a growing number of companies around the world. That growth is exciting, but there is no denying that with it comes a complex array of actors and interests, some of whom may be more opportunistic in their thinking when it comes to intellectual property rights. Ensuring that permission…

James MurdockBlockstream

OIN protects the open-source community through a patent cross-license for Linux and related open-source technologies. The license is free and available to companies, organizations, and individual developers if they agree not to assert their own patents against Linux.

Chris DiBonaGoogle

We view Open Invention Network as one of the key methods through which open source leaders and innovators can deter patent aggression. “We are committed to freedom of action in open source, and have noted OIN’s efforts to actively defend and enable the Linux ecosystem.

Jane Silber, Canonical

At JD.com, we have employed open source technologies such as Kubernetes and Open Stack, along with Linux, to improve the speed, functionality and stability of our infrastructure while lowering operating costs.

Rain LongChief Human Resource Officer & General Counsel, JD.com

Recently Joined the OIN Community

About OIN

OIN Community

Our License Agreement

OIN Linux System

Press Room

Community Initiatives

Press Mentions

What people are saying…