%0 Journal Article %J Technology Innovation Management Review %D 2012 %T Open Invention Network: A Defensive Patent Pool for Open Source Projects and Businesses %A Deborah Nicholson %K innovation %K linux %K patent %X This article explores how patents impact innovation within free/libre open source software (F/LOSS) businesses and projects. The number of software patent suits brought each year is increasing and is diverting millions of dollars in funds from developers to lawyers. With patent suits on the rise, the US Supreme Court has left the F/LOSS community in a position where it must either wait years for legislation or address the issue of patent suits itself. However, defending the Linux kernel and related technologies is a different challenge than the one that faces proprietary software businesses. This article describes Open Invention Network, an initiative that is designed to meet the particular challenges facing the F/LOSS community and businesses by providing a defensive patent pool. %B Technology Innovation Management Review %I Talent First Network %C Ottawa %V 2 %P 12-17 %8 01/2012 %U http://timreview.ca/article/511 %N 1 %1 Open Invention Network Deborah Nicholson works at the intersection of technology and social justice. She has been a free speech advocate, economic justice organizer, and civil liberties defender. After working in Massachusetts politics for fifteen years, she became involved in the free software movement. She is the Community Outreach Director at Open Invention Network and the Community Manager at Media Goblin. She also serves on the board at Open Hatch, a non-profit dedicated to providing tools and education for potential new free software contributors. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she is slowly pursuing a graduate degree in Information Technology. %R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/511