Tokyo, March 25, 2020 - Rakuten, Inc. today announced that the company has become a member of the Open Invention Network (OIN), an open source patent cross-licensing organization.
OIN’s mission is to enable freedom of action for its community members and users of Linux/open source software-based technology through its patent non-aggression cross-license in the “Linux System*.” OIN has over 3,100 members from around the world, and by becoming a member of OIN, patents related to the Linux System held by Rakuten Group will become available for cross-licensing.
To date, Rakuten Group has proactively engaged in the development of the Linux System and other open source software technologies. One example of this is the fully virtualized cloud native mobile network built by Rakuten Mobile which began operations in October 2019. By utilizing open source software, Rakuten Mobile has been able to streamline operations, reduce costs, and rapidly and flexibly deploy new services.
The Rakuten Group provides more than 70 services both in Japan and around the world across a variety of fields including e-commerce, fintech digital content and communications. These services are organically connected through a single membership ID and loyalty points program, Rakuten Points, to form the Rakuten Ecosystem.
As a member of OIN, Rakuten aims to further develop open source technologies and contribute to the open source community in order to further expand the Rakuten Ecosystem and strengthen the open ecosystem the company has developed with its partners.
Rakuten will aim to contribute to OIN through collaboration with other members to promote rapid application development and further open source technology innovation.
* Linux is a free and open source operating system used on a wide variety of hardware around the world, including servers, PCs and smartphones. OIN refers to AndroidTM and other open source software related to Linux as the Linux System.
* Android is a trademark of Google LLC.