[Ecommerce] (ZDNet) Nokia: Linux kernel may use our patents

[Manon Ress]

Nokia: Linux kernel may use our patents
By Stephen Shankland, CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News: May 25, 2005, 5:35 PM PT
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5720696.html

Nokia said Wednesday its patented technology may be freely used in the
Linux kernel, making the Finnish cell phone giant the newest computing
company to begin offering intellectual property protections to
open-source programmers.

"Nokia believes that the investment made by so many individuals and
companies in creating and developing the Linux kernel and other
open-source software deserves a framework of certainty," the company
said in a statement. Nokia made the announcement the same day it
introduced a small Internet device based on Linux.

The Linux kernel, the software project begun by Linus Torvalds in 1991,
is at the heart of an operating system that includes numerous other
open-source components.

Legal scrutiny of Linux in particular and open-source software in
general jumped to the foreground with the SCO Group's lawsuit against
IBM involving Linux and Unix. And some have expected Microsoft to use
its patents against open-source software.

Nokia isn't the first to offer protections. Linux seller Red Hat offers
unfettered use of its patents in open-source software, and Novell
pledged to use its patents to defend against legal attacks on
open-source software.

Sun Microsystems is in the process of releasing patents associated with
its OpenSolaris project and has pledged not to use them against other
open-source projects. And in January, IBM published a list of 500
patents that may be freely used in any open-source project.

Nokia said in its statement that it won't assert legal claims against
Linux involving its current patents, but reserved the right to exclude
future patents from the agreement. It published its policy on its Web site.

Nokia isn't extending its legal protection to those who assert their own
patent infringement claims against the Linux kernel. "Nokia also
believes that a party should not enjoy use of Nokia's patents and at the
same time threaten the development of the Linux kernel by assertion of
its own patents. Therefore, Nokia's commitment shall not apply with
regard to any party asserting its patents against any Linux kernel," the
company said in a statement.

--
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

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