HTC, Samsung, Quanta, Compal and soon Huawei; all these have a common denominator: they have signed a patent agreement with Microsoft concerning Android-powered devices that they build.

Microsoft is taking another pawn from the chess board with Korean phone-maker LG. The two “have signed a patent agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for LG’s tablets, mobile phones and other consumer devices running the Android or Chrome OS Platform”.

Exact terms of the agreement, as in previous cases, were not unveiled. We can only guess licensing fees and based on those we can conclude that Microsoft is making a truckload of money out of Google’s Android. However, intellectual property has to be protected and Microsoft is holding a lot of patents. Maybe other companies should consider Microsoft (and its partners’) move and finally end to courtroom saga!

Source: Microsoft