Microsoft, Google Agree to Dismiss All Pending Patent Infringement Lawsuits
Companies had been litigating about 20 patent-infringement cases; agree to collaborate on ‘certain patent matters’
Googlea and Microsoft didn’t disclose whether money changed hands as part of the agreement. PHOTO: MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rivals Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. agreed to dismiss patent-related lawsuits between the two companies, in a sign of the cooling intellectual-property wars among technology giants.
Microsoft and Google had roughly 20 lawsuits pending between them over uses of patents in mobile phones, Wi-Fi, Web video and other technologies. The companies agreed to dismiss all the pending patent cases, including those related to Google’s former Motorola Mobility smartphone unit, Microsoft and Google said in a joint statement Wednesday.
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The companies didn’t disclose whether money changed hands as part of the agreement.
Microsoft and Google also said they had agreed to “collaborate on certain patent matters and anticipate working together in other areas.” Neither company elaborated on possible areas of cooperation.
The detente between Google and Microsoft is another sign of a change in what had been a period of aggressive patent wars in the technology industry, particularly over smartphones.
Companies including Google, Microsoft, Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. have fought over intellectual property involved in phone design, smartphone software and other issues. The pace of litigation has slowed recently, as some companies strike agreements to license each other’s patents.
Google, for example, reached far-reaching patent agreements in 2014 with Verizon Communications Inc., Samsung, Cisco Systems Inc. and LG Electronics Inc. It also has lobbied hard in Washington, D.C., to reform intellectual-property laws to reduce litigation. Microsoft and Samsung agreed earlier this year to end a contract dispute over the South Korean company’s use of patents controlled by Microsoft.
Bloomberg News earlier reported the end to Microsoft and Google’s patent disputes.
