Publishing inventions and technologies on Appropedia is a version of open sourcing intellectual property. There is a growth in the concept of Open source patents. For example, the Open Invention Network is a type of patent pooling arrangement which seeks to defend the Linux System from patents. The concept of open source technology is in its infancy and needs considerable work.
There is already considerable work being done on open patentsW and the Patent Commons has been created to assist in open software development.
