Driving Open Source Innovation: Joining the Open Invention Network Board | SUSE Blog

Joining the Open Invention Network Board Open source is behind so much innovation in tech and therefore society as a whole. But we can never take future success for granted. We’ve seen an enormous rise in software patent suits over the last decade. Consolidation also has threatened customer choice. The Open Invention Network believes greater diversity of thought, perspective and talent drives higher levels of innovation and it promotes the idea that Open Source technologies provide a new business model which distills collective and global intelligence. Against this backdrop, I’m delighted to join the Open Invention Network board. This experienced group of global leaders makes up the largest patent non-aggression community in history. The mission is to support freedom of action in Linux as a key element of open source and grow the community to support patent non-aggression coverage. They simply take the principles of open source – and apply this power of the network effect to combating patent trolls. A noble and important mission. I asked Keith Bergelt, CEO of Open Invention Network, about what excites him most for the future of our network. He shared: “We had the opportunity to come together as a board in Tokyo, and are continuing to make excellent progress in growing our global membership as evidenced by the fact that we recently welcomed Foxconn and Formosa Plastics to our licensing community. We now have over 3,800 corporate licensees and over 3 million worldwide patents and applications in the community.” I’m delighted to be part of a community of leaders who advocate for open source and the freedom to innovate.