Microsoft this morning announced that it has signed a patent licensing agreement with Android device manufacturer LG, its eleventh deal of the kind.
Microsoft says effectively 70 percent of all Android smartphones sold in the United States today are covered under its patent portfolio, not mentioning the fact that they’re also suing Motorola Mobility and NOOK maker Barnes & Noble over their Android devices.
Continuing a tradition that we hope will stand the test of time, Microsoft’s head of communications, Frank Shaw, took to Twitter to taunt Google.
First, Shaw tweeted “Hey Google – we are the 70% #anotherandroidlicense” with a link to their press release, and later said:
Can we just agree to drop the patents-as-weapons meme? When effective licensing enables companies to share IP, the metaphor falls apart
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Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) January 12, 2012The second one is of course a bit disingenuous, since pretty much every player in this industry employs patents as weapons, will at some point, or wishes they were in a position to do so.
Shaw isn’t alone in his endeavor to try and get a response out of the Google camp, by the way.
Here’s Brad Smith, Microsoft’s EVP and General Counsel, tweeting:
It's time to recognize that in #patent world, lawsuits are the 1%; license agreements are the 99%. #anotherandroidlicense
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Brad Smith (@BradSmi) January 12, 2012And here’s Horacio E. Gutiérrez, Corporate VP and Deputy General Counsel, tweeting:
How should the smartphone industry resolve IP disputes in the software stack? Let’s try licensing
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Horacio Gutierrez (@horaciog) January 12, 2012We love this stuff. We want more. Come on, Google, it’s your turn. Keep this going.
Update - no comment needed:
hey @robinwauters Google is responding like crazy on G+ i'm sure and it will show up in their search results shortly. tcrn.ch/xQzWiZ
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Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) January 12, 2012Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, is a veteran software company, best known for its Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. Starting in 1980 Microsoft formed a partnership with IBM allowing Microsoft to sell its software package with the computers IBM manufactured. Microsoft is widely used by professionals worldwide and largely dominates the American corporate market. Additionally, the company has ventured into hardware with consumer products such as the Zune and...
Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including: Gmail, Maps, YouTube, and Google+, the company’s extension into the social space. Most of its Web-based products are free, funded by Google’s highly integrated online advertising platforms AdWords and AdSense. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing...
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