Practice Areas & Industries: Holme Roberts & Owen LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Among the areas of expertise in our Technology and Intellectual Property (TIP) Transactions Practice, we have developed a specialized focus counseling clients in the area of open source software licensing and compliance. Indeed, our TIP Transactions Practice includes some of the most experienced open source attorneys anywhere. We have very strong experience collaborating with our clients to craft solutions to reduce the legal impediments to using open source software and to allow our clients to successfully leverage open source software in their businesses. Our experience includes assisting both developers and consumers of open source software with issues involving:

• Developing and implementing open source management and compliance policies, procedures, and controls;
• Managing open source software license compliance and compatibility issues;
• Developing and releasing proprietary product and service offerings involving open source software;
• Evaluating and selecting open source software licensing models in connection with the release of open source software;
• Initiating and responding to open source license enforcement inquiries;
• Contending with open source software issues in mergers, acquisitions, financings, and other corporate transactions;
• Conducting open source license reviews and diligence audits; and
• Managing interactions with the open source community.

The clients of our open source software practice range from technology companies seeking to integrate open source software into traditionally proprietary products and services, as well as those developing business models exclusively around open source software, to companies in a variety of other industries looking to source and leverage open source software in their data centers and IT infrastructures. HRO also advises investors and acquirers seeking to evaluate and understand the legal and practical implications of open source software usage by their target and portfolio companies and conducts open source audits and reviews in connection with mergers, acquisitions, financings, and other corporate transactions.