Originally, there was kSplice as a standalone project that implemented stop_machine()-based patching for the linux kernel. This project got later acquired, and the current owner is providing live patching as a proprietary service, without any intentions to have their implementation merged. Then, due to rising user/customer demand, both Red Hat and SUSE started working on their own implementation (not knowing about each other), and announced first versions roughly at the same time.
» Jiri Kosina | lkml.org