Durham, NC (December 14, 2018) -Open Invention Network (OIN), the largest patent non-aggression community in history, announced today that Tencent Holdings Limited (Tencent) has joined OIN as a community member. As a leading provider of Internet value-added services in China, Tencent is demonstrating its commitment to open source software and the associated development efforts that benefit end users worldwide.
“Tencent is an industry leader and global pioneer of innovative, digital-based technology solutions such as ‘Weixin/WeChat’ and ‘QQ’. It contributes to open source projects and leverages open source software in its businesses,” said Keith Bergelt, CEO of OIN. “We appreciate Tencent joining OIN and demonstrating its commitment to innovation and patent non-aggression in open source.”
“Tencent is committed to offering high-quality Internet-based services from social, games and digital content to mobile payment, cloud services, Internet financial services and smart retail solutions, among many others. Linux and open source are critical elements in the technologies that we are developing to provide these services,” said Xu Yan, general manager of the intellectual property department at Tencent Holdings Limited. “By joining the Open Invention Network, we are demonstrating our continued commitment to innovation, and supporting it with patent non-aggression in Linux.”
OIN’s community practices patent non-aggression in core open source technologies by cross-licensing Linux System patents to one another on a royalty-free basis. Patents owned by OIN are similarly licensed royalty-free to any organization that agrees not to assert its patents against the Linux System. The OIN license can be signed online at http://www.j-oin.net/.
About Tencent
Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Our social products Weixin and QQ link our users to a rich digital content catalogue including games, video, music and books. Our proprietary targeting technology helps advertisers reach out to hundreds of millions of consumers in China. Our infrastructure services including payment, security, cloud and artificial intelligence create differentiated offerings and support our partners’ business growth. Tencent invests heavily in people and innovation, enabling us to evolve with the Internet.
Tencent was founded in Shenzhen, China, in 1998. Shares of Tencent (00700.HK) are traded on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
About Open Invention Network
Open Invention Network (OIN) is the largest patent non-aggression community in history and supports freedom of action in Linux as a key element of open source software (OSS). Patent non-aggression in core technologies is a cultural norm within OSS, so that the litmus test for authentic behavior in the OSS community includes OIN membership. Funded by Google, IBM, NEC, Philips, Red Hat, Sony, SUSE and Toyota, OIN has more than 2,800 community members and owns more than 1,300 global patents and applications. The OIN patent license and member cross-licenses are available royalty-free to any party that joins the OIN community.
For more information, visit https://www.openinventionnetwork.com.
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