Linux groups aim to undermine Microsoft patents

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 29 Apr 2009 at 10:50

The Open Invention Network is attempting to undermine the patents used by Microsoft in its recent case against TomTom, as it seeks to ward off future threats.

Microsoft filed suit in February claiming that TomTom's implementation of certain aspects of the Linux kernel violated its existing FAT filesystem patents.

The suit led to fears among the open-source community that Microsoft was beginning a patent war against other Linux-using companies.

In an effort to ward off any such tactics, the OIN has submitted the three patents for legal review, challenging the open-source community to submit examples of earlier work in the areas covered by Microsoft's patents. If found these examples of "prior art" could be used to invalidate Microsoft's patents.

"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," says Keith Bergelt, chief executive of the OIN.

"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."

The move was supported by Red Hat, which noted on its blog that it was "pleased to endorse the growing movement within the free and open-source community of gathering prior art to undermine invalid software patents."

"We're particularly pleased that Open Invention Network's Linux Defenders has now invited scrutiny of the three patents that Microsoft used in the TomTom case to attack open source, as numerous public reports suggest weaknesses in these patents."

Microsoft claimed it wasn't worried about the actions: "They [the patents] have been validated through licensing agreements and highly scrutinised for validity by patent offices."