Patent defense, FOSS-style

I wanted to let everyone know of a new development in the lawsuit against Red Hat and Novell brought by IP Innovation, a subsidiary of the noted patent troll firm Acacia Technologies. We are inviting FOSS community members to submit prior art relevant to the patents, which may be used to help invalidate the patents. On Friday we posted information regarding the three patents in suit on the Linux Defenders website in its Post Issue Peer to Patent area. The site was developed with Red Hat's assistance by the Open Invention Network and the Center for Patent Innovations at New York Law School, which is now being run by our old friend Mark Webbink. The site is here: http://www.post-issue.org/user-interface-with-multiple-workspaces-for-sha... The claims of the patents, which can be reached from the site, concern a user interface that has multiple workspaces. Red Hat has strong defenses in this lawsuit, but this will likely reinforce them. We also view this as an additional opportunity for creative collaboration with the community. -- Robert H. Tiller Vice President & Assistant General Counsel, IP Red Hat, Inc. 1801 Varsity Drive Raleigh, N.C. 27606 (919) 754 4232 rtiller(a)redhat.com