OIN gets a set of web scripting patents [LWN.net]

The Open Invention Network has announced that it has named Fred DuFresne as a "distinguished inventor" and acquired his patents related to WebMate Foundation, "a server-side scripting software that predates ASP from Microsoft, JSP from Sun/Oracle, and PHP from the open source community". One could imagine that patents reading on ASP and JSP might be useful in future disputes with the companies involved.

to post comments

OIN gets a set of web scripting patents

Posted Jun 7, 2011 15:15 UTC (Tue) by bkuhn (subscriber, #58642) [Link] (7 responses)

The announcement fails to mention what license the Free Software community will be given to these patents. Given that OIN is a for-profit company, we have to wonder what their plans for revenue are for these patents.

I certainly hope OIN will announce a GPLv2- and GPLv3-compatible license immediately for these patents.

OIN gets a set of web scripting patents

Posted Jun 7, 2011 15:33 UTC (Tue) by vblum (guest, #1151) [Link] (3 responses)

OIN will be acquired by SCO soon I suppose ...?

(more to the point, what have OIN done to warrant any suspicion? honest question.)

OIN gets a set of web scripting patents

Posted Jun 7, 2011 15:46 UTC (Tue) by bkuhn (subscriber, #58642) [Link] (2 responses)

I think OIN's complete lack of transparency is troubling; we just don't know enough about them to even trust them in the first place. They market themselves as if they were a non-profit entity — some sort of trade association like the Linux Foundation — yet they are in fact a for-profit Limited Liability Company.

We have to assume they are no different than any other company. With other companies, we should demand patent licenses that are compatible with Free Software licenses for any patents the companies hold. Why should OIN be held to a different standard?

OIN gets a set of web scripting patents

Posted Jun 8, 2011 13:10 UTC (Wed) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link] (1 responses)

Brad Kuhn and Florian Mueller singing the same song? Now I'm worried.

OIN gets a set of web scripting patents

Posted Jun 8, 2011 13:49 UTC (Wed) by Trelane (guest, #56877) [Link]

Isn't this one of the signs of impending apocalypse? ;)

OIN gets a set of web scripting patents

Posted Jun 7, 2011 16:04 UTC (Tue) by iabervon (subscriber, #722) [Link] (2 responses)

Presumably, they will use the same license they've used for all patents thus far, shown at http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/pat_license_agreement.... I think they just didn't devote space in their press release to the non-news.

OIN's existing license is probably narrower than you think.

Posted Jun 7, 2011 16:31 UTC (Tue) by bkuhn (subscriber, #58642) [Link] (1 responses)

You're probably correct that license would apply, iff. these patents are now considered OIN Patents under that agreement.

Note, however, there are some limitations in that license:

with respect only to the Linux System, the license granted herein includes the right to engage in activities that in the absence of this Agreement would constitute inducement to infringe or contributory infringement (or infringement under any other analogous legal doctrine in the applicable jurisdiction).

I've never been able to get a straight answer from OIN why that part of the license is restricted only to the Linux System.

OIN's existing license is probably narrower than you think.

Posted Jun 8, 2011 12:40 UTC (Wed) by hingo (guest, #14792) [Link]

Hi Brad, you raise an important point here. While OIN in many ways has been portrayed to be a friend of Linux and by extension the all FOSS, in reality I've seen no value in their arrangement since I don't develop on or sell Linux. MySQL (or PostgreSQL and any new NoSQL databases for that matter) is not included in their Linux systems. So to me this is just another patent holding company.

While I appreciate that they are at least friendly towards Linux, the correct approach would have been something that protects all FOSS software (for instance anything under OSI license).

OIN gets a set of web scripting patents

Posted Jun 8, 2011 16:19 UTC (Wed) by robert_s (subscriber, #42402) [Link]

I'm quite ambivalent about the OIN doing things like this becase by being in the market for software patents (willing to pay hard cash) they are helping to raise their monetary value and validate patent traders' business models.