The following list is a compilation of the most common questions we receive from prospective members, from all over the world.

If you have a question that is not answered here, or elsewhere on our website, please email info@openinventionnetwork.com.

Since 2005, OIN has maintained the world’s largest and oldest patent cross-license that safeguards the development and adoption of open source software (OSS) from patent threats, including from non practicing entities (NPE).  Over 4,000 organizations have joined its community and granted the OIN cross-license to fellow members, and together our community owns over three million patents and applications globally.  OIN also protects OSS by neutralizing patent threats through targeted defensive activities such as prior art invalidity analyses, third party preissuance submissions, and ex parte reexaminations.

OIN 2.0 is a continuation of OIN’s long standing commitment to protect OSS from patent threats, but modified to reflect today’s realities. 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. While OIN offered a free cross-license for over 20 years, in order to become self sustaining and provide for the protection of OSS against patent risks into the future, with the announcement of Table 13 in early 2026 OIN will also simultaneously be launching an annual participation fee for OIN 2.0 community members. The annual participation fee will be tiered based on annual revenue, is described in more detail below, and will be waived for individuals and companies with less than $10 million USD in revenue.

All organizations that have signed the OIN license agreement prior to the Table 13 announcement will continue to have access to the OIN cross-license in Tables 0-12 free of charge, consistent with OIN’s past practice of offering a free cross-license in those technologies.  Only the organizations that have more than $10 million USD in revenue and opt into OIN 2.0 will be subject to the OIN 2.0 annual participation fee.

OIN 2.0 will commence with the release of OIN’s next Linux System update (Table 13) on January 27, 2026.  This update will expand the scope of OIN’s cross-license yet again with important and widely adopted OSS technologies.

OIN community members that opt into OIN 2.0 view Open Source as a critical driver of innovation, are confident with OIN’s stewardship, and appreciate the value of OIN’s patent cross-license that protects the use and development of OSS as it evolves.  Ensuring the continued protection of OSS from patent threats over time requires an organization to manage updates to the Linux System definition while also growing the network of participants in the community.

More specifically, you will benefit from:

  1. Enhanced patent cross-licenses in OSS technologies described in future and updated Linux System tables (Table 13 and each successive update) and expected to expand to contain AI/ML, security, automotive, energy and other important OSS technologies as they evolve,
  2. OIN’s continued monitoring of patent threats to OSS and support with prior art collection, invalidity analyses, and ex parte reexaminations when under threat for development or use of OSS technologies, and
  3. OIN’s active strategic operations to address patent risks to OSS technologies, such as updates to the Linux System definition and ongoing efforts to grow OIN’s network of participants, and as a resource for the continued management of the OIN community (via the OIN 1.0 and OIN 2.0 cross-licenses).

The OIN 2.0 fee will be an annual participation fee based on the community member’s revenue as indicated in the table below.

  OIN Community Member Revenue       OIN 2.0 Annual Participation Fee   
  Tier 5     < $10 million (and Individuals)    $0
  Tier 4     $10 million+ to $50 million    $1,000
  Tier 3     $50 million+ to $100 million    $8,000
  Tier 2      $100 million+ to $500 million    $16,000
  Tier 1      > $500 million    $24,000

Your organization must review & sign the OIN 2.0 License Agreement.

If your organization is an existing OIN community member and has less than $10 million USD in annual revenue, you must still sign a new agreement, the OIN 2.0 License Agreement.  OIN is not automatically rolling any entities into the new benefits and obligations of OIN 2.0.

It is not currently contemplated that your organization will be able to join the OIN 1.0 free program after OIN 2.0 is announced. The OIN 1.0 free program has been available to all for over 20 years, but it is time to move forward.  Given that Open Source innovation continues to expand dramatically with new technologies and into new sectors, OIN 2.0 is the future for patent risk mitigation in Open Source technologies.

No, you are not required to join OIN 2.0.  In fact, to join you must affirmatively opt into OIN 2.0 by signing the OIN 2.0 License Agreement.

Open Invention Network’s License Agreement is innovative in that it offers the same benefit to any and all participants including companies, organizations, and individual developers. This includes founding members as well.

By signing the agreement and becoming part of the OIN Community, an entity is obligated to cross license its own patents that contain claims which read on core Linux/OSS functionality and not assert these patents against other OIN community members. In return, OIN licensees receive the benefits of the cross-license from all other OIN Community members and the associated freedom from patent litigation related to their use of Open Source code.

While it is not a formal obligation, as an OIN community member it could be useful for your technology team to annually conduct an audit of all Open Source code that you use and compare it to what the Linux System currently includes, to better understand what code you use that is not covered under the OIN license. This will reveal your vulnerability associated with open source code adoption and point to technologies that you should nominate for inclusion in future Linux System tables. Making regular nominations will allow you to clear patent risk at scale through OIN’s cross license.

Please see the Q&A below on how to make nominations to the Linux System. Outside of signing the OIN License Agreement (addressed above), there are no ongoing obligations for members.

For the companies that have opted in OIN 2.0 and make more than $10 million USD in revenue, there is an annual obligation to make a OIN 2.0 Participation Fee payment. Please see the Q&A on “How much will OIN 2.0 cost?” for more information.

Ownership of patents is not a requirement to participate in the OIN licensee community and enjoy its benefits. OIN welcomes all organizations to join OIN, as this helps reinforce the community norm of keeping core Linux and adjacent Open Source technologies protected from patent litigation.

Open Invention Network’s technical committee works with the broader Open Source community, including key OSS project leaders, to identify core Open Source project code suitable for inclusion in its Linux System Definition, which comprises several thousand discrete elements of code that, taken together, establish the scope of the OIN cross-license.

To stay up to date with innovations in Open Source technologies and ensure the relevance/value of its cross-license, OIN periodically updates the Linux System Definition, typically on an 18-24-month cycle.

Open Invention Network employs a thoughtful and deliberate process to identify and review candidate packages nominated by key Open Source projects, individuals and organizations. These OSS packages are reviewed and evaluated based on the project from which they are drawn, the relative importance of the code to those supporting the project and producing products based thereon, and their history of adoption/use. Given the importance of the Linux System Definition to OIN’s efficacy in enabling patent non-aggression in the core of Linux/OSS, OIN applies a conservative, consensus-driven approach to selecting package additions to the Linux System Definition.

Please visit the Linux System Nomination page.

This will guide you in making your nominations and ensure such nominations can be properly evaluated for prospective inclusion, in a current or future update, to the Linux System Definition.

As was announced on January 27, 2026, the Linux System contains 5,181 packages from a broad spectrum of organizations and groups representing a large share of the body of existing, de-facto standard Open Source projects.

Almost all packages are basic platform-independent functions of modern computer systems. They cover the essential building blocks of today’s Linux platforms from embedded computers to mobile phones and cars, and are used in a wide variety of devices. Main technology areas of software packages include, but are not limited to, common base packages (used in most Linux configurations), software engineering, enterprise computing, mobile, networking and security, cloud computing, web applications, containers, configuration management, software development, automotive and embedded systems. The chances are that even if you do not think your company is using much OSS code, it is quite likely that if your products are at all software-centric then there will be a significant Linux/OSS component. In fact, if you are a hardware company, you will quite likely become increasingly reliant on software in the future and, as such, before too long will use copious amounts of OSS code. In so doing, you will want to have access to patent protection from the OIN license to support your inevitable adoption of core OSS Code.

You may be surprised to learn that every electronic touch today is powered by Linux and/or open source technology, whether or not we realize it. Google. Smart cars. Chromebooks. Android. Streetlights. Social networks. Cloud and data storage. Video conferencing. ATMs. Bitcoin. Amazon. The New York Stock Exchange. There are countless other examples.

If your company believes in collaboration, realizes the new business model for software development and innovation is derived from Open Source, and wants to be protected from the aggressive use of patents, your organization can join other OIN members that wish to publicly demonstrate their commitment and advocacy for both Open Source and patent non–aggression. Your organization will join a community of leading, global companies in the OSS movement.

If they are not already doing so, many companies in India and Europe aspire to sell their products and services in other geographies.

Many of these regions openly support the grant of software patents and, as a result, the potential for litigation in these regions is significant. Joining Open Invention Network’s community will help to reduce organizations’ exposure to patent risk as they market worldwide.

In addition to the core benefits associated with the OIN license, these entities will benefit through publicly demonstrating their commitment to Open Source, and associated patent non-aggression advocacy, which can aid in attracting top software developer talent and contribute to employee retention. OIN is, at its core, promulgating a set of behavioral norms and code of conduct around how one participates as a citizen of the OSS Community. In fact, the OIN license and community participation is central to how an organization innovates and establishes a clear identity in an increasingly OSS-centric world.

This will depend on the specific situation and the structure of the transaction in which your business is acquired. If the acquiring company obtains more than 50 percent of the equity in your company (typically defined as a control position), then the parent acquirer becomes subject to the OIN license and, as such, will receive the license’s benefits and protections.

As of October 2020, Open Invention Network has 15 industries highlighted on its website and showcases members in each industry. This section of the website is dynamic, with new content and members frequently added. OIN also has a Community Member Listing on the website, which can be sorted by industry or by region.

For offsetting intellectual property (IP) risk in today’s complex computing environment, where vendors are systems integrators of layered technology solutions, indemnities should not be your only protection. Indemnification is an insurance like product and therefore is designed to limit a vendor’s liability. As constructed in today’s software market, indemnities may limit a vendor’s total liability to a certain monetary amount, are limited in the timeframes that are covered and are limited in the software that is covered. More specifically, indemnities may only cover vendor-branded software, and third-party, open source software that you use may not be covered by the indemnity. Further, indemnities often exclude any combinations with the products or software of others. You are relying on a third-party to protect you, instead of taking proactive and direct to minimize your risk profile.

Rather than rely solely on indemnification, it is prudent to be proactive and take advantage of OIN’s free license and, in so doing, participate in the largest patent non-aggression community in history. With more than 4,000 of the most sophisticated patent-rich companies in the world already OIN members, you will be in good company.

Don’t miss out on Table 13 expanded coverage.

Linux System Table 13 increases coverage for Cloud Computing, Kubernetes & Eclipse, and expands coverage for modern languages by adding many new libraries for Go, Python and Rust.

Because we believe in transparency, choice & shared commitment to the future of Open Source, we are not automatically converting existing members to OIN 2.0. All OIN members need to sign an OIN 2.0 Licensing Agreement.