Microsoft and Motorola Solutions today announced a patent licensing agreement that will allow the companies to share technology. While the duo didn’t reveal too many details, the deal does provide worldwide coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for Motorola Solutions’ devices running Android and Chrome OS.
It’s worth emphasizing that Motorola Solutions is a separate company from that of Motorola Mobility, a mobile company Google recently acquired and is now selling to Lenovo. Motorola Solutions provides communication solutions and services for enterprise and government customers.
“Microsoft and Motorola Solutions share a respect for intellectual property and a commitment to fair and reasonable patent licensing programs,” Microsoft’s general manager of IP licensing said in a statement. “Microsoft prefers licensing to litigation, since licensing is a more effective way to share technology and accelerate the pace of innovation.”
“Our Motorola Solutions communications technology works best for everyone when it is backed with robust intellectual property and patents,” Joe White, Motorola Solutions’ vice president of Enterprise Mobile Computing, said in a statement. “We are pleased to have agreed upon a solution that allows our customers to purchase Android products from Motorola Solutions with confidence.”
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The above two quotes reveal next to nothing. Yet Microsoft’s press release doesn’t include anything else: specific products aren’t named, it doesn’t reveal whether a monetary transaction is included, nor does Motorola Solutions say how this will impact its business.
This is yet another Microsoft deal to sign Android and Chrome OS patent agreements. The company has made similar arrangements with Acer, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Dell, Foxconn, HTC, LG, Nikon, Onkyo, Samsung, Velocity Micro, ViewSonic, Wistron, ZTE, and more.
Microsoft still has not revealed which of its patents Android and Chrome OS allegedly infringe upon. One has to wonder how many more companies will be brought into the fold before Google decides enough is enough.
Top Image Credit: Robert Scoble
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