What's Behind All These Patent Agreements?
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Is Microsoft preparing for legal warfare? It's odd just how many recent Microsoft patent license deals there have been, including one with LG today. |
When countries prepare for war, there are generally signs, like subtle changes to foreign trade, the recall of some foreign diplomats or the movement of troops. Business is similar; there is usually some indication that enemy combatants are coming. Often the first sign is the lawyers marching to the front lines.
Microsoft would seem to be engaging in a fair number of new cross-licensing agreements, many since its controversial deal with Novell in November. Most of the recent deals, even where not immediately obvious, have an open-source component. For example, LG is licensing some Microsoft patents related to Linux-based devices.
Then there is this week's other agreement, the Xandros deal, which, with patent protection and other provisions, is similar to the Microsoft-Novell arrangement. Other recent licensing agreements involving some open-source software (usually Linux) include deals with Fuji Xerox, JBoss, Samsung, XenSource and Zend. What is Microsoft preparing for?
Maybe Microsoft already is at war and the patent agreements are simply concessions of bloodless defeats, with cross-licensing and patent payments back to the company being loosely analogous to reparations. Another view: The deals are like an alliance a country might make before the invasion.
Sometimes the threat of war is enough, and Microsoft certainly has done some of that with its assertion that open-source software violates 235 of the company's patents. Not that Microsoft will say which patents!
Maybe Microsoft is more on the defensive than it is on the attack. The company is a huge patent litigation target, the bull's-eye being about as big as Washington State. Microsoft already has raised concerns about GPLv3. Some deals could be acts of nuclear deterrence, if the company perceives toxic fallout will result from GPLv3; the comment and ratification process is the best time for Microsoft to apply pressure, which it has done. Another sign of defensive posturing is the fact that recent Microsoft deals are cross-licensing agreements in which the company would get some patent protection from being sued, too.
Some Microsoft folks joke that the the company's lawyer-to-regular employee ratio is one-to-one. Another view of the cross-licensing deals, particularly where there is patent protection: outsourcing of Microsoft legal services, as in keeping all those lawyers busy. ;-)
That said, patent lawsuits against Microsoft, simply because it is Microsoft, should keep an army of company lawyers employed and in battle for many years.
So, I ask: What do you think Microsoft is preparing for, if anything? Our comment lines are open for your thoughtful responses and rapid-fire discussion. Rat, tat, tat.
Related:
- The Patent Puzzle, eWEEK, June 5, 2007
- Microsoft-Xandros Patent Pact Deja Vu, eWEEK, June 5, 2007
- Microsoft Gives Xandros Linux Users Patent Protection, eWEEK, June 4, 2007
- Shuttleworth: Microsoft, Patents and Ubuntu, Microsoft Watch, May 21, 2007
- Microsoft's Open Letter to Open Source, Microsoft Watch, May 14, 2007
- Microsoft Reignites Its War on Linux, Linux-Watch, May 14, 2007
- Open Source: Microsoft's Patent FUD Campaign, Microsoft Watch, May 13, 2007
- Show Us the Code: Right Pew, Wrong Church, Linux-Watch, Feb. 25, 2007
- Patent Fallout Continues over Microsoft-Novell Deal, Microsoft Watch, Nov. 21, 2006
- Ballmer: Pay You, Pay Me, Microsoft Watch, Nov. 17, 2006
- Hell Freezes Over: Microsoft, Novell Partner on Linux, Linux Watch, Nov. 2, 2006
Comments (5)
Cross licensing is the primary use of patent portfolios in large companies. It keeps the attorneys busy and if you amass a big enough warchest of patents, you can fend off most infringement challenges by claiming the plaintiff is violating one or more of _your_ patents.
Posted by Ed T | June 7, 2007 3:46 PM
There are numerous auxiliary benefits but I think the main motivation is dealing with VC-1. Standardizing VC-1 with smpta and licensing through mpegla reveals that WMV9/10 is 98% mpeg-4. Microsoft has to deal with the patent issues and retroactive license payments. It's a huge story, but mpegla is dealing with it quietly. The Register is one of the few sources who have given it any serious coverage.
Posted by Tim F | June 7, 2007 4:08 PM
I believe the war has already begun or will soon be, with great vigor.
The SCO excercise a while back where MS had some kind of dollar stake in SCO was a dry run to flesh out the parameters of the search and destroy process.
The purpose of course is to cut competition off at its knees so that we do not have Thunderbird and/or Firefox to choose from at all, and, where that fails, to cause fees to become payable to MS on all software free or not, so that even "free" or OpenSource software has a sticker price forced on it, and these costs are then passed along to users.
This approach effectively will kill off freeware, shareware and Open Source, while effectively raising the applications barrier to entry beyond hidden APIs to also having to leap the patent payment hurdle to entry as well.
All this is happening as MS is emerging from the final restraints of Microsoft Trial, which it has turned to its advantage in being able to spring the patent trap essential with little warning on the market.
Lawmakers need to step in here quickly to neutralize patents as the latest weapon in raising the applications barrier to entry to new powerful heights.
Posted by PolarUpgrade | June 7, 2007 9:12 PM
This latest move is a futile attempt to scare embedded Linux developers. LG has been a Microsoft partner since 2004, so it doesn't mind sharing the 'FUD club'. According to a very recent survey, fear of patents is at an all-time low and quickly declines. See:
,----[ Quote ]
| As a result, patent worries are down among Linux users over the last
| three years. LinuxDevices.com's latest reader survey, published
| earlier this month, suggested that only about 22 percent of
| embedded Linux developers take patent concerns seriously, down
| from 33 percent two years ago.
`----
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4353132780.html
Posted by Roy Schestowitz | June 8, 2007 4:04 AM
The common factor in the Microsoft patent deals is that there is no mention of any specific patent numbers which Linux allegedly infringes, nor will there be.
The moment that specific patents are identified they can be challenged on grounds of obviousness or prior art. The recent Supreme Court decision on patents means that Microsoft's patents with regards to Linux are more than likely a highly flamable paper tiger.
My guess is that the companies Microsoft is doing these deals with are extremely pleased, financially. Microsoft is in essence trying to buy legitimacy for its patent FUD.
Posted by Greg T Hill | June 8, 2007 7:42 AM