IBM, Red Hat join Open Invention Network in promoting open source software.

Five of the biggest names in technology have funded a new venture called the Open Invention Network that will acquire patents and offer them royalty free to promote the Linux open-source operating system.

The Open Invention Network was formed with undisclosed investments from IBM, Novell, Philips Electronics, Sony, and Red Hat, and will be headed by Jerry Rosenthal, who was most recently vice president of IBM's Intellectual Property and Licensing business, according to a statement released by the venture.

When the Open Invention Network acquires patents they will be available to any company, institution or individual that agrees not to assert its patents against the Linux OS or certain Linux-related applications, it said in a statement. Among its initial patent holdings will be a set of business-to-business electronic commerce patents that were purchased from Commerce One by a Novell subsidiary, it said.

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Source : PC WORLD