[/img]
Looks like HTC and Samsung are taking some aggressive steps to protect
themselves from Android patent litigation -- in the past week both
companies have entered into long-term patent licensing agreements with
Nathan Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures. (Mhyrvold was once
Microsoft's chief technology officer, but he's arguably more famous
for Intellectual Ventures.) Both HTC and Samsung now have access to
IV's entire portfolio of "more than 30,000 IP assets" to wield against
current or potential legal opponents -- like, say, Apple or Oracle --
and IV also plans to help them manage their existing patent
portfolios. It sounds to us like HTC and Samsung decided that they
needed more patent muscle in order to survive in the now crazy-
litigious smartphone market, and indeed, the PR announcing the HTC
deal flatly says the smartphone maker is "working with IV to mitigate
its patent risk."
Of course, this is also a bit of a deal with the devil -- Intellectual
Ventures might be the most infamous patent troll in history, and HTC
and Samsung have essentially decided the risks and cost of doing
business with IV are more favorable than the risks and cost of going
to court. Either way, we'll see how this all shakes out -- and we've
got a feeling that the Apple / HTC lawsuit is about to get seriously
interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment