Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Development
    • Development
    • IT Management
    • Servers
    • Small Business

    Open Invention Network Adds KDE, Document Foundation as Licensees

    By
    Nathan Eddy
    -
    December 22, 2010
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      The Open Invention Network, a company formed to enable and protect Linux, extended its community with the signing of KDE and The Document Foundation as licensees. Patents owned by OIN are available royalty-free to any company, institution or individual that agrees not to assert its patents against the Linux System. TDF is the developer of LibreOffice, a free office suite for personal and corporate productivity, while KDE creates free and open-source software for desktop and portable computing.

      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 in support of free software. “We view an OIN license as one of the key methods through which open-source innovators can deter patent aggression,” said Adriaan de Groot, vice president of KDE. “We are committed to freedom of action in Linux, and in taking a license we help to address the threat from companies that support proprietary platforms to the exclusion of open source initiatives, and whose behaviors reflect a disdain for inventiveness and collaboration.”

      Among KDE’s products are a modern desktop system for Linux and UNIX platforms, office productivity and groupware suites and hundreds of software titles in many categories including Internet and Web applications, multimedia, entertainment, educational, graphics and software development. KDE software is translated into more than 60 languages and its applications run natively on Linux, BSD, Solaris, Windows and Mac OS X.

      By becoming a licensee, KDE and TDF have joined the growing list of organizations that recognize the importance of leveraging the OIC to further spur open source innovation, the organization said. “Given its leadership in creating a user-friendly computing experience, including its advanced graphical desktop for the Linux community, we are pleased to have KDE become a licensee,” said Keith Bergelt, CEO of OIN. “By doing so, KDE affirms its continued support for open source. We applaud their foresight in taking this step to support both itself and the open source community broadly.”

      The OIC was launched in 2005 by IBM, NEC, Novell, Philips, Red Hat and Sony, and has since received supplemental financial support from open software supporter Canonical. The organization holds the Commerce One Web services patents (previously acquired by Novell for $15.5 million), which cover several fundamentals of current business-to-business e-commerce practice. OIN’s founders said they intend for these patents to encourage others to join, and to discourage legal threats against Linux and Linux-related applications.

      “The Document Foundation is a major free software project, and LibreOffice a key office suite for creating, managing and sharing documents,” said Charles Schulz, member of the TDF steering committee. “By becoming a licensee of the Open Invention Network, we fight software patents – which stifle innovation and encourage predatory business practices – and at the same time we improve the protection of our software projects.”

      Open source CRM (customer relationship management) software developer SugarCRM announced its membership to OIN in Nov. following the addition of Mozilla, the developer of software applications including the popular Firefox web browser, in Sept. The organization currently boasts more than 100 licensees– during the first quarter of 2010, OIN signed 40 new licensees.

      Nathan Eddy
      A graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Nathan was perviously the editor of gaming industry newsletter FierceGameBiz and has written for various consumer and tech publications including Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, CRN, and The Times of London. Currently based in Berlin, he released his first documentary film, The Absent Column, in 2013.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×