"The Open Invention Network, the Software Freedom Law Center and
The Linux Foundation are sponsoring an organization called the
Linux Defenders, which has three key projects (quoting from their
Web page):
"Peer to Patent
"Peer-to-Patent is a historic initiative by the United States
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that opens the patent
examination process to public participation for the first time.
Peer-to-Patent is an online system that aims to improve the quality
of issued patents by enabling the public to supply the USPTO with
information relevant to assessing the claims of pending patent
applications. Peer-to-Patent provides an opportunity to open up the
closed patent review process to more information and enable better
decision making and improve the patent system by avoiding the
issuance of overly broad patents. Linux Defenders is working in
cooperation with the established Peer-to-Patent program to create a
portal for the Linux and open source community to participate in
the program and provide parallel initiatives with the same common
goal of improving patent quality and enabling freedom of
action/freedom to operate."
