MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-01-11 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] IBM - Software Patents
|
Big Blue hands over
software patents to open
source
11 January, 2005
by Robert Dutt
As part of its commitment to the Linux operating system, IBM Tuesday
announced that it would allow open access to 500 IBM software patents to
anyone working on open source software, whether an individual or a
group.
According to the company, technology covered by the 500 patents will be
made available to "any individual, community, or company working on or
using software that meets the Open Source Initiative definition of open
source software now or in the future."
"True innovation leadership is about more than just the numbers of
patents granted. It's about innovating to benefit customers, partners
and society," said John Kelly, senior vice president of technology and
intellectual property at IBM, in a prepared statement.
The company calls the move the beginning of forming the basis of a
"patent commons," where patents will be made freely available to all
comers in many areas of broad interest to the IT market and its
developers and users. Big Blue says that the patents it is making
available will help open source developers to build their applications
faster, increase interoperability between applications, and provide
better standardization of information.
"Continuing IBM's legacy of leadership in the strategic use of
intellectual property, our pledge today is the beginning of a new era in
how IBM will manage intellectual property to benefit our partners and
clients," Kelly said. "Unlike the preceding Industrial Economy, the
Innovation Economy requires that intellectual property be deployed for
more than just providing the owner with freedom of action and income
generation."
IBM had previously -- at last year's LinuxWorld -- pledged to not use
any of its patents "against the Linux kernel," as it alleges rival SCO
Group is doing in taking IBM to court. SCO says that IBM has made
technology covered by its license for Unix, and derivatives of that
work, available to the Linux community, and that's the basis for the
nasty court battles between the two.
The company still acknowledges intellectual property ownership as "an
essential driver of innovation," but says that advancing technology in
general requires the sharing of knowledge and standards. It says that
its pledge will protect new, novel and useful invention, but allow open
standards that will speed development.
The news comes as the company can announce that for the twelfth straight
year, it earned more patents than any other U.S. company, with 3,248
patents. The company says this is the fourth consecutive year it has
notched more than 3,000 patents, and maintains that it is the only
company to ever get more than 2,000 patents in a single year.
____________________________
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