Microsoft and Google have finally decided to call it quits on their long-lasting patent feud, that had been eating away both of theirs time and money. Reuters reports that the two tech behemoths have settled about 18 cases in the United States and Germany, including those pertaining to Motorola Mobility, which Google Inc. sold to Lenovo Corp. about an year ago.
The companies have also agreed to sit and work out any future disputes, before running to any regularities.
The Microsoft-Google Patent started five years back, when Microsoft filed two complaints- over the Android smartphone features and Wi-Fi Video Patents, and against Motorola [not under Google at that time]. The companies kept meeting in court and dissolved the issue, but Motorola hit back with four Patent lawsuits in German court against Microsoft in 2011, for infringing its technology in the Microsoft’s Xbox game systems.
Not the one to just sit back, Microsoft then fired back with another lawsuit on Motorola for infringing its Redmond smartphone patents, and the story has thus continued the same way so far. But, not anymore.
The companies in a joint statement said,
Google and Microsoft have agreed to collaborate on certain patent matters and anticipate working together in other areas in the future to benefit our customers.
An insider spokeswoman has also confirmed that Microsoft and Google are now working hand-in-hand to develop latest technologies and build products including search engines and mobile computing devices, and much more.
The companies said they have been cooperating on such issues as the development of a unified patent court for the European Union, and on royalty-free technology for speeding up video on the Internet, while Google is still stuck with the charges of violating Antitrust Laws in European countries, and abusing its position in the Android Market.
There is no official word on the financial proceedings of the settlement.
We’re positive that both companies, have taken a step to start afresh and focus their energy and resources into building upgraded technologies, rather than fighting cases in court all-day. Both Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai, sharing common cultural roots, have come to terms with the fact that working together as a team would benefit both companies in the long run [and help them take the fight back to Apple].
And it is anyways not in the best of interests for both the tech giants to waste resources and intellect on long-dragging court matters, considering their lesser-than expected quarterly earnings estimates, which came out yesterday.
