Over the last month, Microsoft has announced four royalty-bearing license agreements that will likely increase their profits significantly. Three of the four deals actually settled pending patent litigation issues, which allows both companies to save the money that would normally be spent paying lawyers over the course of the lawsuit. The terms of all the agreements are currently confidential but statements did say that the licensees will receive more broad coverage protected under Microsoft's vast patent portfolio, allowing them the freedom to sell these specific products without fear of being sued in the near future.
The latest company to sign on as a licensee with Microsoft is Voxx electronics, which is a popular consumer electronics producer. Not only is this a beneficial move for both companies to some degree, it is a worldwide agreement, which increases the freedom even further. Both these companies actually have a history together, which made the deal more smooth and natural. Microsoft has become known for its various licensing agreements and, with the fact that they are still a high-profit company, it seems like these deals they have been making have been paying off.
It is a breath of fresh air to see companies come together to form these deals rather than try and troll each other in patent litigation. Agreements like these allow both companies to innovate and sell their products freely, both which end up benefiting the consumer.
(Information obtained from http://www.fosspatents.com/2014/02/microsoft-announces-its-21st-android.html)
The latest company to sign on as a licensee with Microsoft is Voxx electronics, which is a popular consumer electronics producer. Not only is this a beneficial move for both companies to some degree, it is a worldwide agreement, which increases the freedom even further. Both these companies actually have a history together, which made the deal more smooth and natural. Microsoft has become known for its various licensing agreements and, with the fact that they are still a high-profit company, it seems like these deals they have been making have been paying off.
It is a breath of fresh air to see companies come together to form these deals rather than try and troll each other in patent litigation. Agreements like these allow both companies to innovate and sell their products freely, both which end up benefiting the consumer.
(Information obtained from http://www.fosspatents.com/2014/02/microsoft-announces-its-21st-android.html)
It is definitely nice to have more of these licensing deals than lawsuits. Although it may lead to a higher cost of products for us, it will probably end up being cheaper than the price increase the companies make should the lawsuits not end and more lawsuits arise from further infringement of other patents. The engineers at the companies will also have less to worry about in designing the new products for u.
ReplyDeleteI think that your assessment is right that coming to terms on licensing deals avoids a lot of headache for multiple companies. Microsoft really did get a great deal out of all of it because of the royalties it will be receiving over the next years. I am wondering why companies are more inclined to do licensing deals rather than go to court with other companies. i can only think that there is more financial upside involving lawyers and winning a case, otherwise companies would just agree to licensing agreements and avoid paying lawyers. It will be interesting to definitely see what kind of patents that Microsoft will be receiving royalties on the future, can't wait to find out about them.
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