CA Pledges 14 Patents to Open Source

Computer Associates on Wednesday said that it would open up 14 of its patents to the open source community, as well as announcing a cross-licensing deal with IBM. CA said that it was joining IBM, which pledged 500 patents earlier this year, in calling for a "patent commons" for open source developers. The patents cover application development, systems and network management, and business intelligence.

IBM and CA will also exchange license rights that would make it easier for customers of the two companies to access free intellectual property. "[The agreement] will stimulate the development of new solutions and enable the flexible combination of products from both companies in an on-demand environment," Mark Barrenechea, executive vice president at CA, said.