Flex Joins Open Invention Network Community
Flex (NASDAQ: FLEX), the manufacturing solutions provider that designs and builds intelligent products globally, today announced that the company has joined the Open Invention Network (OIN), the largest patent non-aggression community in history with nearly 3,000 members.
Flex (NASDAQ: FLEX), the manufacturing solutions provider that designs
and builds intelligent products globally, today announced that
the company has joined the Open Invention Network (OIN), the largest
patent non-aggression community in history with nearly 3,000 members. As
a global company offering a full range of manufacturing capabilities,
Flex is demonstrating its commitment to open source software as an
enabler of smart, connected devices.
“Flex is proud to join OIN and help further the goals of the open source
community,” said John Ritsick, vice president of legal and chief
intellectual property officer for Flex. “In our position spanning many
industries, we are sensitive to the negative impact that the aggressive
assertion of patents can have on innovation, and how excessive lawsuits
can significantly dampen opportunities for collaboration, especially
within the open source community. We are pleased to be an active
participant in the effort to protect Linux and related open source
technologies from the risk of patent litigation.”
“As the fields of autonomous vehicles, 5G, artificial intelligence,
medical and datacenter technologies rapidly advance, there’s a strong
need to recognize the benefits of shared innovation,” said Keith
Bergelt, CEO of OIN. “We are pleased that Flex has joined our community
and is committed to patent non-aggression in Linux and adjacent open
source technologies.”
“Joining a community like OIN helps facilitate our advanced technical
Linux capabilities across the company, both in our data centers and at
our manufacturing sites,” said Gus Shahin, chief information officer at
Flex. “Our use of Linux will increase quickly as we leverage the
collective innovation of communities like OIN.”
OIN’s community practices patent non-aggression in core open source
technologies by cross-licensing Linux System patents to one another on a
royalty-free basis. Patents owned by OIN are similarly licensed
royalty-free to any organization that joins OIN and agrees not to assert
its patents against the Linux System. The OIN license can be signed
online at http://www.j-oin.net/.
Flex has locations in more than 30 countries and 50 years of expertise
in a dozen industry verticals, with the breadth and depth of experience
to help companies develop and launch innovative products at global scale
and intelligently manage a shifting business landscape. Learn more at http://www.flex.com.
About Flex Ltd.
Flex is the Sketch-to-Scale® solutions provider that designs
and builds intelligent products globally. With approximately 200,000
professionals across 30 countries, Flex provides innovative design,
engineering, manufacturing, real-time supply chain insight and logistics
services to companies of all sizes across industries and markets. For
more information, visit flex.com or follow us on Twitter @Flexintl. Flex
– Live SmarterTM
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