UPDATED 04:13 EDT / OCTOBER 02 2015

NEWS

Google, Microsoft sign peace deal in patent dispute

Google and Microsoft have called a truce in their long-running patent disputes, agreeing to drop all legal cases against one another.

The two tech giants inked a secret settlement late last month, although the terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.

“Microsoft and Google are pleased to announce an agreement on patent issues,” is what the companies did say in a joint statement. “As part of the agreement, the companies will dismiss all pending patent infringement litigation between them, including cases related to Motorola Mobility.”

The tech giants had around twenty patent lawsuits pending in both Germany and the U.S., relating to smartphone technologies, video streaming software and more. All of those cases have now been resolved, although neither Google nor Microsoft is saying who gets what.

But that’s not all. Separately, the two companies “have agreed to collaborate on certain patent matters and anticipate working together in other areas in the future to benefit out customers”. There’s no mention of what those “patent matters” might be.

Google and Microsoft’s patent disputes date back to 2010, when Microsoft first alleged that Google infringed several of its patents in its Android mobile operating system. Microsoft has since made a tidy amount of money from its Android patents, signing agreements with virtually every Android device manufacturer on the globe. As a result, it’s said Microsoft’s Android patent revenues amount to over a billion dollars a year – some say, even more than what it earns from its own Windows Phone operating systems.

The agreement will likely be a big relief for Google and Microsoft, because patent litigation is both expensive and can also be a huge distraction for companies. It’s likely that consumers might even benefit in the long term, because companies involved in long and expensive legal disputes often pass the cost onto their customers in the form of product price increases.

Even so, it’s not clear if the deal reflects any change in Microsoft’s patent strategy. Microsoft has long been viewed as a master of leveraging its patents to rake in extra profit, and has even funded so-called patent trolls like Intellectual Ventures, which then use the cash to sue rival technology firms.

Some might take today’s announcement as a sign that Microsoft is going to ease off on its patent claims in future, which would fit with CEO Satya Nadella’s claim that he wants Microsoft to be “Silicon Valley’s best friend”. One might assume that means calling off all but the most obvious patent claims, but old habits die hard and so it remains to be seen if Microsoft will change its ways.

Image credit: Bessi via pixabay.com

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