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For more than three years now, Microsoft has held to the line that it has loads of patents that are infringed by Google's Android operating system. "Licensing is the solution," wrote the company's head IP honcho in 2011, explaining Microsoft's decision to sue Barnes & Noble's Android-powered Nook reader.
Microsoft has revealed a few of those patents since as it has unleashed litigation against Android device makers. But for the most part, they've remained secret. That's led to a kind of parlor game where industry observers have speculated about what patents Microsoft might be holding over Android.
That long guessing game is now over. A list of hundreds of patents that Microsoft believes entitle it to royalties over Android phones, and perhaps smartphones in general, has been published on a Chinese language website.
More details are in the story, but too much to include in this summary.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by davester666 on Tuesday June 17 2014, @06:40AM
Microsoft keeps which patents they believe Android infringes a secret so regular people don't read the patent and go either "that's ridiculous" or "that's obvious". It also makes it more difficult to prepare for the day when Microsoft's lawyers show up at your office.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 17 2014, @08:38AM
People who have had dealings with MSFT will tell you that Redmond will reveal -nothing- without an NDA in place.
Barnes & Noble repeatedly refused to sign.
The word we got from them is that after several tries, M$ *assumed* that an NDA had been signed and they revealed which patents they were claiming had been violated.
It was a first.
Too bad B&N allowed The Borg to buy them off so readily after that.
-- gewg_