IBM, Sony, Philips form Linux alliance
CNN Money (Reuters)
November 10, 2005
http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/10/technology/linux.reut/index.htm

	The article announces the creation of a new firm by several large electronics,
computer, and software companies.  The new firm is called the Open Innovation
Network (OIN) and it has been founded by IBM, Sony, Phillips, Novell, and Red Hat
to share a large body of patents royalty free.  This new strategy is intended to
provide companies protection as they begin to adopt Linux in a wide variety of 
products and markets.  The new company will use the huge portfolio of patents,
provided by its founding companies, to reduce the risk of adopting Linux, a step
that the founders hope will accelerate the usage of Linux.  This step is a unique
usage of open source principles, not only in pushing the open source OS Linux, but
also in using a portfolio of patents in an open source manner.
	Just as Linux is available without payment to anyone who wants to use it, the
new company will make its patent portfolio open royalty free to any company who wants
to use them, as long as they agree not to make patent claims against Linux.  The threat
of legal action has been one of the main arguments used by Microsoft in the past to
ward off the threat of Linux among its largest customers.  The new backing of industry
giants like IBM, Sony, and Phillips should greatly easy the worries of many Linux adopters,
especially in the light of the ongoing SCO case.
	Beyond the specific application of this approach to pushing Linux, the idea of companies
opening their patent portfolios to help spur innovation could be revolutionary.
Traditionally, patent portfolios have been viewed as one of the most effective levers that
a large company like IBM has in gaining access to other technology and mediating patent
disputes.  If this alliance is successful, it could lead other companies to adopt a
similar approach to patent management, signalling an acknowledgement that greater gains
can be wrought from innovation than protectionism.  This is an extremely interesting
article from the perspective of our class, as it hits on several topics, open source,
intellectual property, and overall strategy; and it could signal a refreshing shift in
how many of these topics are viewed if successful.