Nokia: Linux kernel may use our patents

Nokia: Linux kernel may use our patents
Published: May 25, 2005, 5:35 PM PDT
By Stephen Shankland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Nokia said Wednesday its patented technology may be freely used in the Linux kernel, making the Finnish cell phone giant the newest computing company to begin offering intellectual property protections to open-source programmers.

"Nokia believes that the investment made by so many individuals and companies in creating and developing the Linux kernel and other open-source software deserves a framework of certainty," the company said in a statement. Nokia made the announcement the same day it introduced a small Internet device based on Linux.

The Linux kernel, the software project begun by Linus Torvalds in 1991, is at the heart of an operating system that includes numerous other open-source components.

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