Red Hat Announces Software Patent Commons

BetaNews reports:

Also announced by [Red Hat] at its annual conference was the Software Patent Commons, which is much like the Creative Commons License used for music and art. The company hopes that the new license structure will allow developers to work together with less concern over patent infringement.

The Software Patent Commons is part of Red Hat's effort to push for patent reform both in the United States and in Europe. The company joined forces with Nokia claiming that the current structure is a threat to the future of open source.

Business Wire adds:

The third arm of Red Hat's strategy is to work to protect open source by creating a Software Patent Commons. Much like the Creative Commons which encourages collaboration by wide sharing of rights under copyright, a Software Patent Commons would enable a future of free collaboration and thought sharing among software technologists with reduced concern over patents.

More: Red Hat Patent Policy.