A New Zealand based multi-national mobile services company commissioned EverEdge to analyse their software license and advise on the options and potential ramifications of incorporating open source software into their code base.
This multinational mobile marketing and advertising services company developed innovative software that assists companies to market products over new generation mobile networks. The client’s products and services range from mobile image recognition systems, to advertising tracking and monitoring packages.
The client had developed a marketing campaign management system that utilised open source code. Using open source code threatened the product’s intellectual property position, potentially limiting the available commercialisation routes and returns on product development investment. As a result, the client needed to understand the manner and extend to which the open source code could affect the product’s commercialisation.
We thoroughly analysed the license under which the open source code was distributed and also anylsed relevant open source code laws and regulations in the various jurisdictions where sizable markets existed for the client. Investigations also explored market dynamics and other companies’ approaches to these issues (e.g. Google and Microsoft).
These studies enabled us to provide a full picture of the client’s commercial position and – more importantly – the overall commercial implications of using the code. Strategies were developed to maximise the client’s risk and ensuring they used open source code prudently.
EverEdge helped the client to understand the benefits and risks of using the open source code and developed strategies to maximise the client’s commercial returns from their development. This put the client in a more confident – and competent – intellectual property commercialisation position. Not long after the licensing review, the company was sold to purchasers who stated that its intellectual property approach to open source software code was a key factor in the purchase decision.
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