Microsoft announces Android-related patent deal

Xinhua, September 29, 2011

On Aug. 15, Google announced a 12.5 billion-dollar purchase of Motorola Mobility, noting that the company's portfolio of patents will help protect Google and its Android software.

The booming smartphone market has been harassed by acrimonious legal battles over patent infringement. Being an open source operating system, Google's Android has become a major target of patent suits.

Microsoft has been going after companies that make phones and tablets running Android, rather than directly against Google. But the two tech giants still engaged in public spats over the issue after Google's top legal officer posted a scathing blog early August accusing Microsoft and other companies of waging "a hostile, organized campaign against Android."

In Wednesday's blog post, Microsoft did not forget to give Google a dig, saying "We recognize that some businesses and commentators Google chief among them have complained about the potential impact of patents on Android and software innovation. To them, we say this: look at today's announcement. If industry leaders such as Samsung and HTC can enter into these agreements, doesn't this provide a clear path forward?"

Florian Mueller, a well-known intellectual property analyst, called Wednesday's agreement "the most important Android-related intellectual property deal in its own right and even more significant against the background of Google's proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility." "If Samsung truly believed that Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility was going to be helpful to the Android ecosystem at large, it would have waited until that deal is closed before concluding the license agreement with Microsoft. But Samsung probably knows it can't rely on Google. It decided to address Android's intellectual property issues on its own," said the analyst in his blog "Foss Patents."