Google announces patent pledge not to sue users, distributors, or developers of open-source software

Google on Thursday announced the Open Patent Non-Assertion (OPN) Pledge, its latest attempt to back the notion that “open systems win” and that open-source software is “at the root of many innovations” in markets that Google considers key, such as cloud computing and the mobile web, as well as the Internet in general. The company has given the following promise: “we pledge not to sue any user, distributor or developer of open-source software on specified patents, unless first attacked.”

Google is starting small: 10 patents relating to MapReduce, a computing model for processing large data sets first developed at the company and of which open-source versions are widely used in the mobile industry. Google says it intends to expand its set patents covered by the pledge to other technologies.

Google hopes the OPN Pledge “will serve as a model for the industry” and that other patent holders will adopt it, listing the following advantages:

• Transparency. Patent holders determine exactly which patents and related technologies they wish to pledge, offering developers and the public transparency around patent rights.


• Breadth. Protections under the OPN Pledge are not confined to a specific project or open- source copyright license. (Google contributes a lot of code under such licenses, like the Apache or GNU GPL licenses, but their patent protections are limited.) The OPN Pledge, by contrast, applies to any open-source software—past, present or future—that might rely on the pledged patents.


• Defensive protection. The Pledge may be terminated, but only if a party brings a patent suit against Google products or services, or is directly profiting from such litigation.


• Durability. The Pledge remains in force for the life of the patents, even if we transfer them.

More to follow.

via The Next Web http://thenextweb.com/google/2013/03/28/google-announces-patent-pledge-not-to-sue-users-distributors-or-developers-of-open-source-software/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNextWeb+%28The+Next+Web+All+Stories%29