Reuters reports that IBM is donating 500 of its patents for free use by software developers. Full details of exactly what will be included haven"t yet been released - but the patents cover areas including storage and database management, image processing, networking and multiprocessing, according to an IBM executive.
Jim Stallings, the company"s vice president for intellectual property, said the firm hoped the move would provoke new technological innovations using IBM"s original patents. "This represents by far the largest pledge of patents in US history," he added.
IBM reportedly has more than 40,000 patents in total at the moment. While the company will continue to hold the rights to the patents, it has said it won"t seek royalties from any companies, groups or individuals who use them for open-source projects.