After two decades of endowment‑backed patent defense, Open Invention Network is moving to a tiered funding model and expanding its Linux System coverage.
Open Invention Network has announced a new funding model, along with an expanded definition of what constitutes the Linux System, which is the software the organization seeks to protect. This protection comes in the form of something that’s akin to what was called MAD — for “mutually assured destruction — during the Cold War when nuclear annihilation was an above the radar issue.
In its twentysomething year history, OIN has amassed a formidable portfolio of patents that member organizations can use as leverage against patent aggressors. Its efforts have resulted in the largest active patent cross license portfolio in history, which includes 4,000 members collectively holding more than three million patents — with some owned by OIN outright and others owned by member organizations. They are also valuable, and collectively generate over $10 trillion annually revenue for their respective owners.
Until now, OIN’s funding has been the carryover from a pool of about $160 million established by IBM, Google, NEC, Philips, Red Hat, Sony, SUSE, and Toyota. After that, pretty much anyone who asked could become a member without charge, just by signing on the dotted line. They were, however, expected to commit relevant patents into the mutual‑deterrence pool.
On Tuesday that changed. The organization announced the launch of OIN 2.0, which introduces a shared and community-driven funding model, which the organization says will ensure the long-term sustainability of the organization and its mission. Under the program, small businesses and individuals continue to participate for free, while medium-sized companies and large enterprises will fund OIN’s future growth through a tiered annual participation fee, based on revenue.
“OIN 2.0 is a continuation of OIN’s long-standing commitment to protect OSS from patent threats, modified to reflect today’s realities,” Keith Bergelt, CEO of Open Invention Network, said in a statement. “Open source technologies have grown exponentially beyond Linux, into new and exciting sectors, and clearly beyond what was originally envisioned in the early 2000s when OIN was created. OIN 2.0 marks a transition and provides an opportunity for all who benefit from open source to contribute to OIN’s ongoing patent protection.”
The Expanding List of Covered Software
One driver for this change is the recognition that the number of projects needing OIN protection is rapidly increasing. Twenty years ago when OIN was first finding its feet, enterprises were just starting to adopt open source solutions. This meant that the Linux kernel and a few key pieces of supporting software — constituting what OIN called the “Linux system” — were all that needed to be covered.
These days, the infrastructures of most companies are composed almost entirely of open source software, running not only Linux but the cloud-native technologies and microservices that make modern CI/CD pipelines possible. This has resulted in OIN’s Linux System expanding greatly over the years. Some additional patents needed to cover this expansion have come from the expanding pool of member-owned patents that OIN can access, but not all — which means that OIN must expand the scope of the patents it creates or acquires. The patents must also address valuable uses if they are to be useful as deterrents, which makes acquiring them costly.
“OIN 2.0 fees will provide for OIN to update the scope of its patent protection coverage as OSS expands in the future, grow OIN’s network of participants to increase the breadth of its community, monitor patent threats to OSS, and support community members under patent threat in OSS with defensive strategies,” Bergelt said. “The participation fee is structured so that large enterprises contribute more, medium-sized companies pay less, and small organizations remain free.”
The fees are relatively inexpensive when compared to what companies must pay to join trade organizations such as the Linux Foundation where annual membership fees are often more that $100,000. Lowest tier companies — those with revenue in the $10 million to $50 million range — pay $1,000 annually. For the highest tier — companies with revenue higher than $500 million — the annual cost is $24,000.
New Linux System Definition
Alongside the launch of the new membership model, OIN released Linux System Table 13 as the first update to its patent protection coverage offered under the OIN 2.0 program. In total the list contains 5,181 packages, with 650 hitting the list for the first time.
Included is software for smart technologies, security, networking, data centers, and automotive. Most notable is its increased coverage for cloud computing, which now includes Kubernetes and Eclipse. Also, there’s expanded coverage for modern languages, with the addition of new libraries for Go, Python, and Rust.
“There have been many businesses and institutions that have been instrumental in open source’s broad adoption,” Jim Zemlin, executive director at the Linux Foundation said in a statement. “Somewhere near the top of that list is Open Invention Network. OIN has enabled businesses to confidently invest their resources in open source development, projects, and use. Without OIN to help protect the open source community from patent aggression, its growth would not be as great.”
Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux
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