In addition to your Community Membership, OIN offers 4 additional products & services related to Open Source and patent non-aggression.

OIN Patent Non-Aggression Community Membership
There are many benefits for members of our community. You can find a summary of the key benefits here.

Sharing Prior Art
OIN leverages our network of relationships in the greater Open Source community to collect and share prior art in order to permit OIN licensees at risk, or in litigation, to better defend against Linux-centric patent aggression.

OIN Patent Acquisitions & Threat Clearing
In certain circumstances, OIN may acquire patents from patent antagonists asserting patents in situations where the acquisition provides a broad-based clearing of patent threats to OIN community members.

OIN Reduces Patent Application Claim Scope
OIN routinely utilizes the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) (defined below) pre-issuance submission program to submit prior art to limit the claim scope — or secure outright rejection — of overly broad patent claims in patent applications that are focused on key technology areas relevant to Linux and adjacent Open Source technologies.
The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a U.S. federal statute passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on September 16, 2011. The law represents the most significant legislative change to the U.S. patent system since the Patent Act of 1952 and closely resembles previously proposed legislation in the Senate with the Patent Reform Act of 2009.
Named for its lead sponsors, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the Act switches the U.S. patent system from a “first to invent” to a “first inventor to file” system, eliminates interference proceedings and develops post-grant opposition. Its central provisions went into effect on September 16, 2012 and on March 16, 2013.
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.
Embecosm has joined OIN, an industry consortium with an ever-growing patent pool that facilitates cross-licensing, for mutual defense 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.
As a global leader in open source, SUSE enables innovation from the largest data centers in the world to cloud environments, and our technology is embedded in every day devices like cars, points of sale and MRIs. Open source infrastructure is the power behind the cloud and digital transformation, and our customers rely on us for mission critical business outcomes and for innovation. As a leader in bringing open source solutions to enterprises, including enterprise Linux, we see firsthand why … Read more
Open source platforms enable the rapid deployment of advanced computing, storage and communications solutions. We recognize the value in shared innovation, a fundamental characteristic of open source communities. OIN membership is strategically important for YADRO in terms of patents management, R&D, marketing, and overall company reputation. Our participation in the OIN community demonstrates our commitment to support collaborative technology development and the ongoing success of the open sour… Read more
RBC recognizes open source as a significant enabler of innovation and it was important for us to join the Open Invention Network and support its role in protecting Linux system open source software from patent litigation risk.
KDDI is committed to offering high-quality telecommunication service and a variety of IoT service, including vehicle telematics, smart meters and others. Linux and open source are critical elements in technologies which we are developing aimed at such services. By joining the Open Invention Network, we are demonstrating our continued commitment to innovation, and supporting it with patent non-aggression in Linux.
We have an unrelenting focus to put customers at the center of what we do. Incorporating Open Source software is one of the ways we implement the best technologies in our systems to deliver services and experiences that our customers value and trust. At U.S. Bank, we are committed to technology innovation, and we are proud to join the Open Invention Network and support its role in protecting Open Source software.
Open source technology, especially Linux, drives innovation in areas that are critical to the customers that we serve, including technologies such as servers, storage, cloud, converged applications, big data and IoT. By joining Open Invention Network, we are demonstrating our continued commitment to open source technology, and supporting it with patent non-aggression in Linux.
For more than two decades, we have been a steadfast supporter of open source and the numerous benefits it provides. We have and continue to support the OIN and the Linux Foundation. IBM and Red Hat believe this is a key initiative to significantly deter non-practicing entities from asserting patents against the open source community.
As we build a better experience for our clients, open source can be a significant innovation enabler for the platforms and applications we build and integrate. We’re proud to join the Open Invention Network and support its role in protecting open source software from patent risk.
Join the OIN Community
The membership process is simple. We welcome all individuals & companies who advocate for Open Source and are focused on reducing risk from the threats of patent aggressors.