Panel Discussion: Community Response to Non-Practicing Entity Patent Risk in OSS
Channel: The Linux Foundation
Date: 2022-10-08

Panel Discussion: Community Response to Non-Practicing Entity Patent Risk in OSS - Shawn Ambwani, Unified Patents; Keith Bergelt, Open Invention Network; Karen Copenhaver, The Linux Foundation & Stephen Walli, Microsoft

Over the course of the last three to five years, patent aggression from operating companies against open source project code has declined as more and more operating companies like Microsoft have agreed to cross-license patents that read on core open source software (OSS) functionality through participation in the Open Invention Network Patent Non-Aggression Community.  During this period, however, patent aggression against critical OSS project functionality has risen at an accelerated rate from non-practicing entities (NPEs) seeking to monetize patents that have, for the most part, been purchased from the secondary market.   As such, coordinated countermeasures have been adopted by Microsoft, the Linux Foundation and Open Invention Network through the founding and funding of the OSS Zone managed by Unified Patents. Two plus years into its formation the OSS Zone has realized substantial success in invalidating poor quality patents held by NPEs that had been asserting them against critical open source functionality. The panel will discuss the nature of non-practicing entity patent risk to OSS, the motivation for a collaborative partnership between the founding/funding parties, and provide an overview of patent risk mitigation benefits attributable to this initiative.