Dubbed Open Invention Network, this Linux Asset Powerhouse will freely license the vast majority of the world's LINUX IP and patent assets to anyone, any company (any size!) which agrees not to assert their patents against OIN

OIN's goal is to foster an open, collaborative environment that stimulates advances in Linux and Linux adoption in products and applications

Former IBM Intellectual property licensing lead Jerry Rosenthal will administer the trust from the Hudson Valley as CEO. He says they will "partner, share and acquire" any additional Linux rights or professional expertise needed to ensure the future of the group's goals.

The key here is acquire, very likely through swaps and sharing agreements with little to no emphasis on cash transactions. Each of the founders are contributing funding and OIN - and Envisioneering - each believes this is business model is the first of its kind. Given rising litigation costs and product delays from fears of such litigation, OIN may not be the last of this kind of model.

Envisioneering believes this effort will minimize or outright eliminate much of the doubt that OEMs, ODMs, PC makers, appliance and consumer electronics manufacturers have expressed to Envisioneering over the years as to why they were either slow or shy at making great use of Linux.

Anyone who has ever endured a patent litigation suit knows only the court clerks make out well. Lacking an intellectual property or "Technology" circuit court system in the United States and most countries, comfort and confidence for design comes more often from who you "stand" with than who (or how large and accomplished) your law firm is.

IDC predicts the linux business will grow from $20 Billion this year to $40 Billion by 2008. Envisioneeirng belleves the formation of OIN changes all this, perhaps creating an atmosphere where IDC's estimates are 50% shy of what is possible over the next few years.

The losers in this enterprise will likely be lawyers. OIN paperwork access is streamlined, and unless you love spending time in courtrooms or inhaling photocopier fumes, this initiative should clear away much of the murkiness and uncertainty regarding embracing Linux for the vast majority of the worlds new computer driven designs.

Who loses besides attorneys? Microsoft.. A dozen or more real time Operating System vendors may need to evolve or stand by and watch their market shares decline.

In coming days and weeks, the OIN web site will offer simple log in and information access to the portfolio's content. To avail yourself of their technology, a company, individual, institution or organization simply agrees not to assert its own patents against others who have joined OIN.