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June 4, 2007
Sweet Dreams
After becoming pals with Novell last year, to encourage others to buddy up,
Microsoft bigwigs recently boasted that 235 of its patents were infringed by
open-source products. Now Linux software distributor Xandros has inked a
five-year pact with Big Softie, providing "patent covenants" to Xandros
customers, so they don't have to worry about being sat on by Mr. 235. This is
Microsoft's way of making friends.
By cutting the deal, Xandros spits in the eye of the Free Software Foundation, which has revised its GPL license to prevent open-source developers/distributors from seeking patent protection from the likes of the Big Smoothie. All hell is not expected to break loose, because David Kaefer, Microsoft's IP Licensing Honcho, mouthed, "We're confident that we can move forward and do great things together."
Andreas Typaldos, at helm of Xandros, squirted his logic: "People buy insurance every day; they don't think their house is going to burn down, but it's a good thing to have insurance so they can go to sleep at night."
These are all grown-ups, mind you. Nighty-night, Andreas.
Posted by Patent Hawk at June 4, 2007 12:26 PM | Patents In Business