Samsung Buys Patent Protection

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Samsung, the world’s top seller of smartphones based on the Android operating system, has agreed to license key patents from Microsoft, leaving Motorola Mobility, soon to be owned by Google, out in the cold.

“The agreement also gives both companies greater patent coverage relating to each other’s technologies, and opens the door to a deeper partnership in the development of new phones for the Windows Phone platform,” Microsoft’s lawyers Brad Smith and Horacio Gutierrez wrote in a blog post on the matter Wednesday morning.

Microsoft first sued Motorola for infringing on its patents in October 2010 in federal district court in Washington as well as at the International Trade Commission. The suit alleges that Motorola infringes on nine Microsoft patents on syncing data on various apps such as e-mail, calendar and contacts, among other things.

Smith and Gutierrez noted in their Wednesday blog post that the Samsung agreement is the seventh one they’ve struck in three months with hardware makers who use the Android operating system. HTC, the other big hardware company that uses Android as its operating system, has also struck an agreement with Microsoft.

Sounding a bit like mafioso bosses in a Hollywood movie, they claim that Samsung’s acquiescence illustrates that “licensing works,” and shows “what can be achieved when companies sit down and address intellectual property issues in a responsible manner.”

“We recognize that some businesses and commentators – Google chief among them – have complained about the potential impact of patents on Android and software innovation,” Smith and Gutierrez wrote. “To them, we say this: look at today’s announcement. If industry leaders such as Samsung and HTC can enter into these agreements, doesn’t this provide a clear path forward?”

The two then go on to talk about “mutual respect” for “IP” (short for intellectual property) being the foundation for rapid growth in the technology industry.

The news is noteworthy for a couple of reasons — the first because a large portion of handset makers using the “free” Android operating system are going to have to pay some amount to Microsoft for every handset that they sell.

The other point worth noting is that ever since Google announced its intention to buy Motorola Mobility (for its patents) tech analysts have wondered whether the move would alienate the handset manufacturers who might be worrying about Google coming in to compete with them. This move seems to indicate the beginnings of a drawing of the lines between the biggest handset makers using Android and Google.

Finally, many independent inventors and patent license holders might have a bit of a laugh when they read Microsoft’s legal counsel talking about behaving responsibly and licensing IP. Microsoft, like Intel and many other big tech companies, has in recent years been the target itself of dozens of patent infringement suits claiming ownership over seemingly arcane technical features that in their own tiny ways improve the experience of browsing or using a Microsoft product.

Microsoft has fought these expensive lawsuits vigorously in court, and in some cases, all the way up to the Supreme Court. These suits are also what led Microsoft to push so hard for patent reform.

As Microsoft’s lawyers note in their blog post, “There undoubtedly will be a good deal of additional drama before this new generation of patent issues sorts itself out in its entirety.”

It’s another question as to whether there is a “solution,” in sight to these ongoing fights — which ultimately end up with the consumer paying more for their smartphones.

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