The network's patents are available royalty-free to any party that agrees not to file infringement suits involving its own patents "against the Linux environment." Under the network's terms, that environment includes not just the kernel at the heart of the open-source operating system, but also higher-level components including the open-source MySQL and PostgreSQL databases that compete with Oracle's own core products.
http://news.com.com/Oracle+bands+with+open-source+patent+group/2100-7344_3-6170717.html

Patent aggregation/pool as a way to stave off competition.

For EA and its industry brethren, USC is looking more and more like it will be an invaluable source of talent and ideas. That's because the university is in the process of forming what it calls the USC Games Institute, an "umbrella of activity" surrounding the research, development and design of video games that is set to encompass the various programs of study currently being held at the university's engineering school, its School of Cinematic Arts, its Annenberg School for Communication, its Institute for Creative Technologies and its Roski School of Fine Arts.

http://news.com.com/At+USC%2C+developing+game+coders/2100-1043_3-6183014.html?tag=nefd.lede

Virtual world is increasingly becoming real.