It looks like the Patent Wars are finally drawing to a close. Not only are we starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel for the Apple vs. Samsung fight, the other big tech titan battle of the 21st Century has drawn to a close. Google and Microsoft have ended their long-standing patent fight over Motorola Mobility.
To refresh your memory, Microsoft makes billions in profit each year from licensing some of their patents to Android OEMs. Nearly all of the Android manufacturers, like Samsung, LG and HTC all pay Microsoft licensing fees for patents on certain features found in Android which Microsoft owns. Motorola Mobility was one of the only hold-outs that was fighting Microsoft on these patents.
After Google purchased Motorola, that only complicated matters, but basically pitted Google and Microsoft directly against each other. Even when Google sold Motorola to Lenovo, that didn't change things, because Google retained Motorola's patents in that sale. Apparently, Google and Microsoft are tired of the fighting, because they officially announced they reached a settlement and plan to work together on various patent matters. Here's the quote with the official announcement,
Not only have they basically called a truce, they have basically turned it into an alliance. Microsoft and Google plan to work together with Amazon.com and Netflix in order to develop a “royalty-free, video-compression technology to speed downloads.” The group also plans to lobby for a unified patent system in Europe.
You see... good things can happen when we work together instead of trying to tear each other down...
Source: Microsoft and Google reach sweeping settlement in longstanding patent suits - GeekWire
