Open Invention Network (OIN) and Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE), the TTO for Arizona State University (ASU), have launched a research program focused on developing solutions to critical security issues for mobile computing devices. As part of the relationship, OIN acquired IP from AzTE. The research program is designed to enable open source’s continued expansion into mobile technologies while providing IP for defensive purposes in an increasingly competitive market. “We expect to continue to acquire patents from universities and a variety of other secondary sources,” says OIN CEO Keith Bergelt.

A defensive patent management organization formed by IBM, NEC, Novell, Philips, Red Hat, and Sony to support Linux systems, OIN licenses technologies from its defensive patent pool on a royalty-free basis and works with universities on technology and patent acquisitions, funded research, and defensive publication programs. In this case, OIN is sponsoring the research of Gail-Joon Ahn, PhD, associate professor of computer science and engineering at ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and director of the Laboratory of Security Engineering for Future Computing (SEFCOM), to expand the collaborative’s impact in supporting Linux’s migration into mobile devices – an emerging market for the open source community. “Mobile device security has recently received considerable attention since it lacks a usable and effective method for handling user credentials,” Ahn says. “Our approach seeks a way to solve critical security issues such as identity theft, fraud, and privacy concerns related to all mobile computing devices.”

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Posted August 25th, 2010 under Tech Transfer

Write a comment