Patent non-aggression in core technologies is a cultural norm within OSS, so that the litmus test for authentic behavior in the open source community includes OIN membership. Funded by Google, IBM, NEC, Philips, Sony, SUSE and Toyota, OIN has more than 3,800 community members who have access to more than 2.8 million patents and applications.

By design, OIN exists to preserve patent freedom for participants in key Open Source Software (OSS) projects.

OIN supports freedom of action in Linux as a key element of OSS.

OIN believes and promotes the idea that greater diversity of thought, perspective and talent drive higher levels of innovation. This collective intelligence stems from the global Open Source community, supported by patent non-aggression.

OIN enables freedom of action in Open Source technologies and help community members to reduce patent risk. Open Source and patent non-aggression contribute to the rapid development of platforms that are reshaping the human experience, transforming industries and creating new opportunities that were previously unimagined.

As the largest patent non-aggression community in history, OIN members represent start-up companies to international Fortune 100 firms, including 5 of the top 10 largest businesses in the world.*

*OIN representation from  Alphabet, Alibaba, Facebook, Microsoft and Tencent. Based on 2019 market value. Source: Statista

Protecting Open Source innovation

3,800+ members from 150 countries in more than 20 industries across virtually every industry are developing new Open Source strategies, products and services that are changing the world as we know it and the world of the future.

Financial obligation of participation in our community is FREE of charge and open to everyone.