Open Source Development Labs, the trade body for Linux research,
has launched a patent commons project, providing a central
repository of software patents and patent pledges to make access
easier for the open source development community.
The patent commons project will initially include a library and
database bringing together patent pledges made by companies for the
benefit of the open source community. It will also offer a
collection of software patent licences and software patents, issued
and pending.
OSDL chief executive Stuart Cohen said, “Our goal is to make it
easier for developers and industry to take advantage of the good
works of vendors, individuals and organisations who may wish to
pledge patents and intellectual property in support of the
community.”
The move offers developers the assurance that the patents will
not be enforced against them on open source software.
Linux operating system creator Linus Torvalds, who is based at
OSDL, said, “Software patents are a huge potential threat to the
ability of people to work together on open source. Making it easier
for companies and communities that have patents to make those
patents available in a common pool for people to use is one way to
try to help developers deal with the threat.”
The project is still in its planning stages and details are
expected to be announced in the next few months.