Peace has broken out in patent land. Financial terms are confidential.
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The settlement appears to mark a chapter of détente between the two companies, which have fought bitterly for years over smartphone patents. The peace pact will result in dropping 20 lawsuits in both the US and Germany, Bloomberg says. During its long-running battle with Microsoft, Google argued that it held the patents for a few of the technology found in the Xbox and wanted royalties.
Microsoft andd Google have agreed to dismiss about 20 patent lawsuits that stretch back five years.
“Microsoft and Google are pleased to announce an agreement on patent issues”.
The two firms had been involved in a tangled web of disputes, a few spurred by Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility in 2011, which meant the search giant took on board a large number of patents relating to mobile phone and network technology. Likewise, Microsoft tried to block Motorola mobile phones.
The tech titans have been clashing since 2010 over royalties related to technology in the Xbox game console and smartphones from Motorola Mobility, which Google owned up until January 2014, when it sold off the division to Lenovo – but kept many of its patents.
They also agreed to collaborate on patent matters and work together “to benefit our customers”.
“This opens up the door for partnerships between Google and Microsoft, as Nadella is changing the image of the company into a lover and not a hater of other technology stalwarts”, said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets.
When it comes to patent policy, the companies agree they want to make it harder for patent-licensing firms that don’t make products and are derided as “trolls”.
Now with Google and Microsoft shaking hands, will patent reform find new life?
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After accelerating the pace of patent suits in the second half of the last decade, Microsoft has now settled numerous cases.
