IBM to give away 500 patents
Reuters
US patent leader IBM plans to donate 500 patents for free use by software developers,
marking a major shift of intellectual property strategy for the world's top computer
maker and a challenge to the high-tech industry.
Jim Stallings, IBM's vice-president in charge of intellectual property, said in an
interview the move was meant to encourage other companies to unlock patent portfolios
to spur technological innovation.
"This represents by far the largest pledge of patents in US history," IBM said
yesterday. "You can use them and grow and innovate (and)... to build something new,"
Mr Stallings added in remarks aimed at developers.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=174687
The donation coincides with an announcement by the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office that IBM topped the list of annual patent recipients for
the 12th straight year, with 3,248 patents -- or 1,314 more patents than
No. 2-ranked Matsushita of Japan, known for its Panasonic brand.
IBM's move puts it at the vanguard of a movement to redefine patent laws in
less restrictive ways. Critics of patent law reforms over the past decade
say they have undermined the ability of software developers to innovate
with the same level of freedom that led to the PC and Internet revolutions.
But it also puts IBM at further loggerheads with rivals such as Microsoft,
which argues that open source software development undermines corporate
intellectual property rights. It also contrasts with zealous patent
defenders such as major pharmaceutical and media companies -- big IBM
customers.
Open source refers to a method for developing software in which developers
share the underlying code but compete to introduce specific innovations. It
contrasts with the proprietary model of creating software in which the
underlying code is shielded by each company as trade secrets.
CALL FOR OTHERS TO FOLLOW
The IBM move is meant to encourage other patent holders to donate their own
intellectual property in order to form what the company refers to as a
"patent commons," a modern twist on shared public lands set aside under
traditional laws.
"We think the way it's going to evolve is that other companies will want to
pledge," Stallings said. "I think they will come together and decide how to
manage the commons," he said, stressing that IBM was hoping to jump-start
but not control any resulting organization to manage this process.
"I think other companies will follow suit," agreed Stuart Cohen, chief
executive of Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) of Beaverton, Oregon, an
industry consortium that promotes open source software. He believes 10
companies may come forward to offer a pool of 1,000 or more shared patents.
The 500 patents cover areas such as storage management, simultaneous
multiprocessing, image processing, database management, networking and
e-commerce, Stallings said.
Examples of what IBM will contribute include 39 patents in storage
management and patents covering Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs) used to
invoke larger programs, the IBM executive said.
