Microsoft, Pegatron Ink Patent Deal for Android, Chrome Devices
Microsoft has inked a patent licensing deal with Pegatron that covers Android- and Chrome-based devices.
Microsoft has inked a patent licensing deal with Pegatron that covers Android- and Chrome-based devices.
The agreement means Pegatron can utilize technology covered by Microsoft patents for its Android- and Chrome-based e-readers, smartphones, and tablets.
"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Pegatron and proud of the continued success of our Android licensing program in resolving IP issues surrounding Android and Chrome devices in the marketplace," Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Microsoft's Intellectual Property Group, said in a statement. "With this agreement, Microsoft has now licensed four of the top five Taiwanese ODMs."
Taiwan-based Pegatron manufactures its own products, but is also a supplier for well-known tech firms, like Apple.
Microsoft has previously signed patent licensing deals with companies like HTC, Samsung, Suanta, , Wistron, and LG.
When the in January, Gutierrez said that 70 percent of all Android smartphones sold in the U.S. were covered under Microsoft's patent portfolio.
Microsoft holds patents relating to navigation and how websites display content; technology used on the Android and Chrome platforms.
Earlier this week, Microsoft and Facebook that will see Microsoft license or sell many of the patents it picked up from AOL to Facebook for $550 million in cash.
Patent battles have made a number of headlines in recent years, as some of the top tech companies - from Apple and Samsung to Motorola and Microsoft - have gone after one another for patent infringement. Microsoft is currently battling Barnes & Noble for violating its patents with its Nook line of e-readers. B&N responded by accusing Microsoft of patent abuse, but an International Trade Commission (ITC) judge in January Barnes & Noble's antitrust claims against Redmond.
In February, however, Microsoft with the European Commission accusing Google and Motorola Mobility of patent abuse, which eventually resulted in an .