Summary: OIN apparently kicks the threat of Novell to the curb; Microsoft boosters still hostile towards OIN, which provides signs that OIN is somewhat effective

EARLIER on we wrote about LibreOffice joining the OIN, which is positive news. As a good news site put it, "[p]atents owned by Open Invention Network are available royalty-free to whichever company, institution or individual that agrees not to assert its patents against free software." Groklaw explained that OIN's defence from Novell-owned patents was about to expire because of CPTN. Simon Phipps, whose employer recently joined the OIN, writes:

Smart move here – by joining now, they gain access to all those patents belonging to Novell that will leave the pool and belong (among others) to Microsoft and Oracle when the acquisition by AttachMate closes. Given Novell’s software portfolio, there’s a chance some of those are highly relevant. Now OIN needs to update its software list to include LibreOffice.

As one can imagine, LWN is characteristically heckled^* by Microsoft Florian, who still promotes the pro-Microsoft side and bashes the OIN. ⬆ ____ ^* This mobbyist also reproduces the comments in other forums for increased impact, so there's a lot of silent copying-and-pasting involved.