HTC pays Microsoft over Android patents

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 28 Apr 2010 at 07:36

Microsoft has scored a symbolic victory over Google, after HTC agreed to pay the software giant for the use of patents inside its Android smartphones.

HTC is the leading maker of Android smartphones - including Google's own Nexus One and the highly impressive HTC Desire. The company has agreed to pay royalties to Microsoft for what's described as "broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for HTC’s mobile phones running the Android mobile platform."

"HTC and Microsoft have a long history of technical and commercial collaboration, and today’s agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercial arrangements that address intellectual property,” said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of intellectual property and licensing at Microsoft. “We are pleased to continue our collaboration with HTC.” HTC also makes smartphones running on Microsoft's Windows Mobile.

HTC has been somewhat caught in the crossfire between the giants of the mobile industry. In March, Apple launched a lawsuit against HTC, claiming that the Taiwanese manufacturer had infringed 20 of its patents, in what was widely regarded as a strike against Google. The patents were said to relate to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs accused HTC of theft, saying that his company wouldn't "sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions.”

Neither Apple nor Microsoft have launched a lawsuit directly against Google, although the search giant offered HTC its full support in the case against Apple, claiming that "we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it".