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September 21, 2008
Microsoft's Patent Tax
Microsoft
appears to have mastered the art of
the patent squeeze. A recent
convert from being something other than a patent piñata, since 2003, the
inception of its patent licensing program, Microsoft has wrestled 500
cross-licensing agreements from a wide variety of technology companies.
Invariably the grateful recipient pads the Big Softee's kitty with a pittance
for the privilege of peace of mind, that Microsoft won't hammer it with a patent
infringement suit. Practically all of the licensed, with rare exception, are Microsoft
customers. This past week, Pioneer was the 15th Japanese company to pony up.
Microsoft's patent assertions can be counted on one hand. Perhaps I've lost count, but only know of one, over mice. Small cheese.
Posted by Patent Hawk at September 21, 2008 1:23 PM | Patents In Business
Comments
MS's patent squeeze? Pot? Kettle?
Posted by: random at September 22, 2008 2:19 PM
You found the note, almost.
Everybody plays the patent game the same way, but infringers like whining about it.
Posted by: Patent Hawk at September 22, 2008 3:47 PM
"Everybody plays the patent game the same way"
yeah, but when you are a major corporation or a university, this is called technology licensing -a good thing
And when you are a poor dude hiring a patent litigator on a contingency basis it's called patent extortion
Go figure...
Posted by: angry dude at September 23, 2008 10:24 AM