Summary: OIN seeks to invalidate Microsoft's Linux-related claims against TomTom

THERE is not much to be said which the press release does not already cover (we append it below). The short story is about OIN hoping to defuse and invalidate Microsoft's extortion tool; it looks for help from the community of volunteers who are aware of prior art (we are aware of some). For a summary of this case, see this last post. Paula Rooney has some coverage referring to OIN's very latest response.

OIN announced today that three patents in the lawsuit — including those the deal with the creation of long and short file names — have been named for prior art review on the Post-Issue Peer-to-Patent website linked to the Linux Defenders portal.

It would be better to eliminate software patents altogether, but this is not the approach adopted by OIN to mollify an inherently ill system. ⬆

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Open Invention Network Announces Community Prior Art Review: Patents Cited in Recent TomTom-Targeted Litigation Placed on Linux Defenders Portal

DURHAM, NC -- 04/28/09 -- Open Invention Network(SM) (OIN), a collaborative enterprise that enables innovation in open source and an increasingly vibrant ecosystem around Linux, today announced that U.S. patents 5579517, 5758352 and 6256642 have been placed for prior art review on the Post-Issue Peer-to-Patent website associated with the Linux Defenders portal. These patents were recently cited in litigation that targeted TomTom NV.

OIN's mission includes encouraging the Linux community to review patents-of-interest that may be of suspect quality or riddled by questions regarding prior art. Accordingly, the patents used in the recent TomTom patent action have been posted by OIN for review and submission of prior art by the Linux community. Submissions may be made by visiting http://www.post-issue.org, clicking on the appropriate patent and selecting "Submit Prior Art."

"The patent vetting activity offered by the Linux Defenders portal offers a unique opportunity to bring to bear the collective knowledge, passion and ingenuity of the Linux community to better explore the validity of the patents that were the subject of the recent action against TomTom," said Keith Bergelt, CEO of Open Invention Network. "I encourage active participation from the entire Linux community so that other companies seeking to advance Linux strategies can be better informed about the quality of these patents."

About Open Invention Network

Open Invention Network(SM) is a collaborative enterprise that enables innovation in open source and an increasingly vibrant ecosystem around Linux by acquiring and licensing patents, influencing behaviors and policy, and protecting the integrity of the ecosystem. It enables the growth and continuation of open source software by fostering a healthy Linux ecosystem of investors, vendors, developers and users.

Open Invention Network has considerable industry backing. It was launched in 2005, and has received investments from IBM, NEC, Novell, Philips, Red Hat and Sony. For more information, go to www.openinventionnetwork.com.

Open Invention Network, the Open Invention Network logo, Linux Defenders, Linux Defenders 911 and the Linux Defenders 911 logo are the property of Open Invention Network, LLC. All other names and brand marks are the property of their respective holders.