Open Invention Network announced Tuesday that it acquired 22 Linux-related patents that Microsoft recently sold to the Allied Security Trust. OIN consists of a group of companies — including Microsoft rivals IBM, Sony, Red Hat and Google — that have been girding themselves for a legal fight over Linux. OIN acquired the patents to ensure that they wouldn’t eventually be sold to a company or entity that wasn’t interested in promoting the Linux platform. The purchase price of the patents was not disclosed.
