Microsoft-HTC patent pact could provide Apple lawsuit air cover
Summary: Microsoft and HTC signed a patent agreement that covers Android handset devices. The move is curious given the Apple patent lawsuit against HTC. Will HTC's move to license Microsoft's patents give it some court protection in the Apple suit?
Microsoft and HTC signed a patent agreement that covers Android handset devices. The move is curious given the Apple patent lawsuit against HTC. Will HTC's move to license Microsoft's patents give it some court protection in the Apple suit?
In the statement, Microsoft said it will get royalties from HTC. Microsoft also jabbed at Apple a bit; Horacio Gutierrez, deputy general counsel of intellectual property and licensing at the software giant, said:
"HTC and Microsoft have a long history of technical and commercial collaboration, and today’s agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercial arrangements that address intellectual property."
The implication is that Apple should work out its Android differences with HTC out of court.
Mary Jo Foley touches on a big question: Is this licensing deal more about Apple or Linux? She adds that Microsoft has been licensing patents to Linux users. Since Android is Linux-based then it stands to reason that Microsoft's patent licensing extend to the mobile space.
However, I'd argue that Linux is a nice sidebar to this tale, but the Apple scenarios are interesting. To wit:
- HTC has licensed Microsoft patents for Android.
- Apple argues that HTC is infringing on its patents.
- HTC can now argue that Microsoft's patents trump Apple's and it has already licensed intellectual properties.
Add it up and you get Microsoft patents as air cover. Now it's unclear whether this argument will work, but you don't have to be a lawyer to see how HTC could use this Microsoft deal to its advantage. There's a reason Apple sued HTC, a young company without a broad patent portfolio. Now HTC has Microsoft patents by proxy.
CNet News' Ina Fried quotes Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney, who touches on the Apple angle. Dulaney notes that HTC doesn't gain much from the Microsoft patent pact unless it plays into the Apple case somehow.
It should be interesting to see how HTC uses the Microsoft licensing pact.
Related:
- HTC responds to Apple; What's the long-term hit?
- Apple's HTC lawsuit: Is it biting off more than it can sue?
- HTC will 'fully defend' Apple's patent suit, but needs more than history lesson
- Apple's HTC lawsuit pays off: Rival roadmaps disrupted
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Talkback
Well, whad'ya know? Microsoft patents can be useful after all.
Pitting patent trolls against each other can be a smart tactics, even if potentially expensive.
I trust HTC lawyers know what they are doing, I bet they are getting so much money from selling their Android devices that by comparison the M$ royalties they pay are nothing but small change.
HTC is wise in doing all to protect the Android business.
Gotta love it
Patent Trolls. Sure
Ethnocentrism rears its head, yet again?
The matter was referred to the courts (specifically in Texarcana, USA) where Microsoft settled out of court for an undisclosed (but almost certainly eye-wateringly large) sum, and a gagging order.
"When MS has a patent..." it might just be because they've stolen someone else's intellectual property. When that IP comes to phone technology... it didn't happen in the USA, so (of course) Americans are unaware of it.
What gibberish!!
Lasers were first developed and patented by Bell Labs in the 1950s
CDs were invented by Battelle in 1965 (Phillips and Sony later merely licensed the technology in the 1980s)
And the first smartphone was developed by IBM in 1992 (4 years before Nokia) and was available on BellSouth - it even had a touch screen and predictive text keyboard
As far as Microsoft's patents - clearly you're unqualified to comment.
@BigRonW
RE: Microsoft-HTC patent pact could provide Apple lawsuit air cover
invalidate any Apple claims, then they do so regardless of whether
or not HTC licenses them. The only benefit HTC gets from
licensing them is that they may cover *other* things that Apple
does. If each side in this dispute is violating valid patents held or
licensed by the other side, then they both have an incentive to
make a deal.
RE: Microsoft-HTC patent pact could provide Apple lawsuit air cover
Can you imagine the chess playing going on in
these
corporate board rooms.
Man...this is good.
Hollywood aint got nothing on this....
Your move apple! .... Then Google ... LOL
Now HTC has Microsoft patents by proxy.
The amount of "not even wrong" from journalists who damn well should know better is disturbing.
True, HTC didn't buy the patents so that they could countersue Apple but
Now Apple must be extra careful in their accusations against HTC as they now face a real risk of stepping on Microsoft's toes, a move that could have unintended consequences and cause severe damage to Apple's business.
Have you ever wondered why, despite frequent insinuations, Microsoft as of today has always failed to sue Linux?
Because IBM holds many important patents and that scares Microsoft. Apple should fear Microsoft almost as much as Microsoft fears IBM.
<b>Software patent litigation is a minefield!</b> Apple shouldn't be playing that game.
RE: Microsoft-HTC patent pact could provide Apple lawsuit air cover
Not only can Apple run HTC out of business; but it could
slap MS silly with it's me too late crappy technology.
Nothing like killing to lame birds with one stone.
Buy Apple stock. Everything HTC owns will soon belong to
Apple.
That was a Great Speech!
Not only that, but as an added bonus the world's recognition for your intellectual prowess has gone up just a tiny bit.
Whatever Happened To That Lawsuit
RE: Microsoft-HTC patent pact could provide Apple lawsuit air cover
cover". The only use HTC can make of Microsoft's patents
is to demonstrate prior art or somehow narrow the scope
of Apple's patents. But you don't need a patent license to
do so. The main use of a large patent portfolio to deter
patent infringement lawsuits is that you can threaten to
countersue, but HTC doesn't own Microsoft's patents,
merely licenses them, and so can't sue Apple for
infringement. Anyhow, I doubt that Microsoft would want
its patents tested in the HTC-Apple lawsuit.
Apple doesn't have to fear stepping on Microsoft's toes any
more than it did before this licensing agreement was
signed.
RE: Microsoft-HTC patent pact could provide Apple lawsuit air cover
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