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.

Embecosm has joined the Open Invention Network (OIN), an industry consortium with an ever-growing patent pool that facilitates cross-licensing, for mutual defence against those who would use patents against the Linux ecosystem. All members are protected, even companies like Embecosm which bring no patents to the table. I don’t like the world we are in, but at least Embecosm is now in a stronger position to protect free software.”

Linux plays an important role at TomTom as the core of all our Portable Navigation Devices. We believe that by becoming an Open Invention Network licensee, we encourage Linux development and foster innovation in a technical community that benefits everyone.

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.

We applaud OIN’s efforts to promote patent non-aggression in the cloud by adding the OpenStack packages to its Linux System definition. The OpenStack Foundation Board of Directors appreciates that the rapidly-growing OIN community has been, and is now explicitly, supporting freedom of action in the cloud of the future that OpenStack has been formed to enable.

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.