Linux infringes on 283 patents?

A group that plans to start selling insurance against intellectual-property lawsuits related to Linux has conducted an anlysis that shows Linux may infringe on as many as 283 patents:

http://news.com.com/2100-7344_3-5291403.html

Of course none of the patents themselves have been validated in court–it’s possible some of the patents are themselves invalid, which would make the patent violation moot.

Of course it’s an insurance company funding the research so you’d expect them to look at the worst-case scenario. Still, it seems kinda scary for those of us who rely on Linux.