On Monday, a filing was made with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in which Motorola Mobility (Google) and Apple entered into a standard-essential (FRAND) patent license agreement. The agreement states that Apple is now licensed to use Motorola’s FRAND patents in Germany. The royalty rate has yet to be set.
Now you have to understand, when it comes to standard-essential patents, the patent owner (Moto) must agree to a licensing deal with a competitor (Apple) if that competitor makes an offer to accept a licensing arrangement. The patent holder cannot refuse without blatantly violating antitrust law. That also means that Apple is essentially admitting to infringing the patents and is liable for past damages.
The filing only covers “cellular standard-essential” patents, leaving Wi-Fi and video codecs open for a later fight. Or separate licensing deals could be struck for those if both parties are tired of fighting.
Hmm, perhaps Microsoft had the right idea all along avoiding the courts and sleeping with its enemies instead. It sure is much less expensive.
source: foss patents
via: engadget
» See more articles by Ed Caggiani
Categorized as Android Lawsuits, Android Manufacturers, Android News
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