Today Shopify and Open Invention Network announced that the eCommerce company has joined its patent non-aggression community. As one of the largest global commerce platforms that provides tools to start, grow and manage a retail business of any size, Shopify said it is reinforcing its commitment to open source software as an enabler of its growing business.
“At Shopify, we’ve built our platform on Ruby on Rails. We view open source software as a key foundation for our business,” said Robert Guay, Senior Counsel, Intellectual Property at Shopify. “By joining the Open Invention Network, we have committed to patent non-aggression in core Linux and adjacent open source software. We believe that this commitment will promote innovation and help enable entrepreneurs and developers to build on open source foundations without focusing on the threat of litigation. We strongly encourage all forward-looking ecommerce platforms, retailers and other companies to do the same.”
Shopify is a leading global commerce company that provides a platform and tools to start, grow, market and manage a retail business of any size. With more than 1.7 million customers in more than 175 countries, Shopify relies on open source code from multiple projects – especially Ruby on Rails – to deploy its platform and services offerings to retailers looking to compete with the global behemoths.
“Ecommerce platforms, fintech and financial services companies should all take note of Shopify’s growth and leadership, which has been built upon open source software going back to its launch,” said Keith Bergelt, CEO of Open Invention Network. “We appreciate Shopify’s participation in joining OIN and demonstrating its commitment to innovation and patent non-aggression in the Linux System.”
Open Invention Network is the largest patent non-aggression community in history and supports freedom of action in Linux as a key element of open source software. Patent non-aggression in core technologies is a cultural norm within open source, and joining the OIN community can be seen as a nod to demonstrating authentic behavior in the OSS community. Open Invention Network is funded by Google, IBM, NEC, Philips, Sony, SUSE, and Toyota. The community has more than 3,400 corporate members.
