SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Flex (NASDAQ: FLEX), the manufacturing solutions provider that designs and builds intelligent products globally, today announced that the company has joined the Open Invention Network (OIN), the largest patent non-aggression community in history with nearly 3,000 members. As a global company offering a full range of manufacturing capabilities, Flex is demonstrating its commitment to open source software as an enabler of smart, connected devices.

“Flex is proud to join OIN and help further the goals of the open source community,” said John Ritsick, vice president of legal and chief intellectual property officer for Flex. “In our position spanning many industries, we are sensitive to the negative impact that the aggressive assertion of patents can have on innovation, and how excessive lawsuits can significantly dampen opportunities for collaboration, especially within the open source community. We are pleased to be an active participant in the effort to protect Linux and related open source technologies from the risk of patent litigation.”

“As the fields of autonomous vehicles, 5G, artificial intelligence, medical and datacenter technologies rapidly advance, there’s a strong need to recognize the benefits of shared innovation,” said Keith Bergelt, CEO of OIN. “We are pleased that Flex has joined our community and is committed to patent non-aggression in Linux and adjacent open source technologies.”

“Joining a community like OIN helps facilitate our advanced technical Linux capabilities across the company, both in our data centers and at our manufacturing sites,” said Gus Shahin, chief information officer at Flex. “Our use of Linux will increase quickly as we leverage the collective innovation of communities like OIN.”

OIN’s community practices patent non-aggression in core open source technologies by cross-licensing Linux System patents to one another on a royalty-free basis. Patents owned by OIN are similarly licensed royalty-free to any organization that joins OIN and agrees not to assert its patents against the Linux System. The OIN license can be signed online at http://www.j-oin.net/.

Flex has locations in more than 30 countries and 50 years of expertise in a dozen industry verticals, with the breadth and depth of experience to help companies develop and launch innovative products at global scale and intelligently manage a shifting business landscape. Learn more at http://www.flex.com.