In association with heise online

23 February 2010, 10:05

Microsoft and Amazon sign patent deal

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • submit to slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • submit to reddit

Microsoft Logo Microsoft has announced that it has signed a patent cross-license agreement with Amazon. Under the terms of the agreement, Amazon will pay Microsoft an undisclosed amount of money for use of Microsoft's patent portfolio.

In a statement, Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft said that, "We are pleased to have entered into this patent license agreement with Amazon.com. Microsoft’s patent portfolio is the largest and strongest in the software industry, and this agreement demonstrates our mutual respect for intellectual property as well as our ability to reach pragmatic solutions to IP issues regardless of whether proprietary or open source software is involved."

The cross-licensing deal covers Amazon's popular Kindle e-reader products and the company's use of Linux-based servers. Amazon's Kindle products use both open source components and proprietary Amazon software. Additional details of the deal, however, have not been disclosed.

According to Microsoft, it has reached more than 600 licensing agreements since it originally launched its IP licensing program in December of 2003. Microsoft currently has similar agreements a number of other major companies, including Novell, Apple, Samsung, LG and Nikon.

See also:

(crve)

Print Version | Send by email | Permalink: http://h-online.com/-937662
 


  • July's Community Calendar





The H Open

The H Security

The H Developer

The H Internet Toolkit