encyclo - 1:31 am on Nov 15, 2005 (gmt 0)

I am surprised someone like apple is not involved in this as well, since their OS is based on Linux. Wrong, it's based on unix.

Both wrong ;) Mac OSX is based on FreeBSD [freebsd.org], a free Unix-like OS which shares no patented Linux code whatsoever and is licensed differently. Apple have no vested interest in acquiring Linux patents.

IBM on the other hand are famously "betting the business" on Linux, and have a strong interest in fostering open source initiatives and actively protecting Linux from patent claims.