




I. Google Says Microsoft is Free-Riding on Android's Success


Windows Phone Mango



Mr. Porter comments:





Bill Gates head scratcher
[Source: Business Insider]









Patents wide
[Source: InvestorsEye]

Concludes Mr. Porter:






Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Comments     Threshold


RE: Google and Patents
By Labotomizer on 11/7/2011 7:28:59 PM , Rating: 2
I agree, those are absurd. The actual implementation of code should be what is available for patent perhaps. Not the overall idea of what it could do. The way some patents are worded seems crazy.

As for why Microsoft contributed? My understanding Google was going to put up more than any one company was willing to put up and therefore they all worked together to put the money up. I think Microsoft joined in because Google didn't want to. Microsoft also can't use those patents in a suit because, ultimately, they don't own those patents. A consortium does. That other company could sue but likely will enter into license agreements. So rather than Google protecting the OEMs by joining the consortium they instead left them with another company they'll likely have to pay licensing fees to. Sad.

RE: Google and Patents
By matty123 on 11/7/2011 8:11:33 PM , Rating: 2

Agreed on this point, I agree the way the code is used should be patentable but not {and I think this is where things have gone wrong the last couple of years} the use of the idea. I blame apple in this regard for all their absurd and frivilous lawsuits against android OEM's, they have all patent holders {Microsoft included} jumping about obsessed with proctecting the most absurd ideas in the world {through to be fair my research on this is limited this is just what I had gathered from things I have read}.

Good point that microsoft can't sue android OEM's over the patents but it must be noted that google did team up with intel in the bidding wars and that it was very widely speculated and expected that the patents would be sold to google at the initial offer of $900 million, as far as I read google in collaboration with intel went all the way up to $4.5 billion over 4 and a half times the expected value of the patents and this on top of the $12.5 billion google is paying for motorola mobility it's not to great a strech to say google could possibly not afford the patents.

Your points are solid and good but I am just not inclined to put that much faith in microsoft at the moment, while I greatly respect most of the products and have used all the OS's since MS-DOS {back in the day} and all the iterations of office and a whole bunch of their other products, I believe android is doing a good thing for the mobile lanscape and while I use an iphone I don't like the overly aggresive campaign microsoft and apple {admittidely microsoft are far better than apple since they at least license their IP apple just wants to destroy the competition} are waging against android seemingly largely because of it's success.

