There have been many claims over the purchase of 22 patents by the Open Invention Network. Some have lauded the cunning of OIN in snatching the patents away from patent trolls. Others suggest the OIN have acquired useful defensive patents. The trouble is that the process of acquiring the patents is relatively opaque. The H decided to talk to the organisation in the middle of the deal, Allied Security Trust, and its CEO, Daniel McCurdy and to the OIN's CEO, Keith Bergelt, to find out exactly what happened, and what it means in practice for open source.