Microsoft said late Tuesday night that it had signed a broad patent agreement with HTC covering HTC’s Android phones and that HTC will be paying Microsoft unspecified royalties as a result.
HTC of course makes Google’s own special Nexus One phone as well as other Android-based phones. It also makes Windows phones. In fact it has a Windows 7 phone coming up.
Microsoft did not say what exactly in Android phones might otherwise infringe its patent portfolio but Android is Linux-based and Microsoft has a standing claim against Linux.
Cnet reports hearing “from those close to the company” that Microsoft’s believes Android infringes “broadly in areas ranging from the user interface to the underlying operating system.”
It also talked to Microsoft deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez who apparently wouldn’t say what specifically in Android Microsoft sees as infringing but did say Microsoft has approached other “device manufacturers to address our concerns relative to the Android mobile platform.”
HTC may have been quicker to sign on Microsoft’s dotted line because it’s being sued by Apple for infringing on 20 of Apple’s hardware and software patents.
The patent deal with Microsoft could help HTC with the claims Apple has made about HTC’s Windows Mobile phones. But the point of Apple’s suit is really Android and whether the deal with Microsoft will help HTC there remains to be seen, despite press speculation about Microsoft suddenly becoming Google’s “potential savior.”
Apparently the spin Microsoft would like everyone to take away is that it’s more open and reasonable than the ultra-monolithic, ultra-proprietary Apple but draws the line at commercial open source software abusing its IP. With Android now no longer free, Microsoft has managed to stick it to both of its adversaries in one move.
HTC has a very slim patent portfolio, which is why it was reportedly thinking about buying the flagging Palm, and there’s no Google indemnification safety net. Android is distributed under an Apache 2.0 license, which means the licensee is on his own in patent complaints.
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