Microsoft has been on the offensive when it comes to protecting its patents. Likewise, it should be, if you own the patent, it is in your best interest to protect your intellectual property.
Microsoft recently announced that they had inked a licensing deal with Samsung over their Android products. This is only one of many such deals that Microsoft has secured in the past few months with many of the key Android vendors. Â
Knowing that Microsoft is landing these deals and earning royalties from every sale of an Android device makes you begin to wonder, how much is Microsoft earning from these deals? According to Business Insider, they make nearly a half a billion dollars annually. The amount estimated is 444 million USD which sounds like a massive amount of cash, but when you consider the company is estimated to bring in 75 billion USD in 2012, the amount is a drop in the bucket for Microsoft.
These patents have finally pushed Google over the edge which resulted in some corporate mudslinging yesterday between Microsoft and Google. The two exchanged words over the new patent deals with Google saying that Microsoft is extorting its partners and Microsoft called Google a bunch of cry babies.
Whatever way you want to look at it, Microsoft has now found a way to make some substantial cash off of one of its competitor’s products. Patents are a hot topic in this country and here is a perfect example of how having a strong patent portfolio can make your competitors lives a living hell.