At a time when mobile companies often seem to prefer litigation to licensing, Samsung and Google have announced that they’ve signed a 10 year cross-licensing agreement for existing and future patents. It’s not sure if this covers all patents from the companies, but it does mean we’re a bit less likely to see lawsuits fly between Google and Samsung in the immediate future.
Meanwhile, both companies continue to fend off suits from Apple and others.
The deal means Google and Samsung can each develop hardware and software using technology covered in the patent portfolio of the other company.
It’s not like Samsung and Google were at each other’s throats up until this point though. Samsung makes and sells more devices running Google’s Android software than just about anyone, and the company’s also been one of the major players in the Chrome OS laptop and desktop space.
via Recode and Ars Technica
It’s win-win.
Google can use Samsung-derived technology, Samsung gets to keep using Google stuff, giving people the good features (like card slots and useful connection ports) and providing that sweet, sweet user data at the same time.
CHA-CHING!
Not sure how other Android manufacturers will take this news. If Samsung uses Google’s patents against it’s competitors, they may abandon the android platform altogether. HTC is already in trouble, and the remaining Android manufacturers are losing market share.
I think this is more in defense against MS and Apple than girding for war with the other phone manufacturers.
All Sammy has to do is make more kick-ass phones to do that.
Can Samsung use Google’s patents to sue their competition? I was under the impression that this deal only gives them the rights to use their IP, not prosecute other for using it. I believe that Google’s patents are still only Google’s, Samsung just gets to use the IP. Kind of a usage vs ownership type of situation. Samsung can use them, but only Google has ownership, and therefore, only they can sue someone else for using them.
That’s the way to go ! No destructive in-fighting between them, and it benefits both companies and the Android gadgets users altogether.
Looks like Samsung picked a side. Now we have a three way patent war. Google, Apple and Microsoft. Microsoft will be wielding the Nokia patents (off the books of course, they have had too many run ins with the US DOJ and convicted predatory monopolists have to be careful). Apple has formidable patent assets. And Google just bulked up it’s weaponry. Would be optimistic a MAD treaty could be worked out since al know the danger, however they all know the market isn’t big enough to support three. And they would really rather be the only one. So it must be war. And we users become the property of the victor. We will be enslaved, just differently depending upon the victor. So lets hope they all lose… and keep losing for long time. Who knows, the market could get shook up by an expected event. This ain’t about phones or… Read more »
And spaceship and planet colony
You forgot our souls. They want them too. Not sure how they will monitize them but I am sure they will find a way.