Two small companies selling affordable tablets running Android operating system have signed patent licensing agreements with Microsoft today.
Microsoft’s reputation to be quick on the trigger in filing for patent infringement lawsuits is not a very encouraging news for Android devices makers as Aluratek and Coby Electronics agreed to pay the tech giant royalties for every sold products. It is known that Microsoft receives royalties from over 70 percent of Android smartphones in the US market alone. The company is alert to find cash from every vendor making any money off Android system.
Tablets from Aluratek using Android operating system sells between $150 to $220 on its website. Aluratek also sells e-readers and potentially other devices that may run Chrome or Android platform. Another vendor, Coby Electronics, also sells even cheaper devices also running on Android at only $80. No details have been disclosed about the said agreements with both Aluratek and Coby Electronics.
As per Vincent Castiglione , General Counsel of Coby Electronics Corporation: “As an innovator in the consumer electronics industry, Coby likewise respects the intellectual property rights of other innovators like Microsoft. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Microsoft.”
For Microsoft, the patent agreement is an excellent example of the significant role of intellectual property in ensuring a vibrant and healthy Information Technology environment.
As of today, Microsoft has signed over 1,100 patent licensing agreements with other firms after its “IP licensing program” took off in 2003. This program was designed to open access to the tech giant’s sizeable Research and Development investments and its ever growing IP and patent portfolio.
Motorola and its parent company, Google, are not about the last to pay up. Some other problems are plaguing Android today, including the withdrawal of Samsung Galaxy Nexus from Google Play app store due to patent infringement allegations filed by Apple against rival Samsung.
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