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back to article Microsoft pays licence fees for 74 smartphone patents

Microsoft licensed 74 patents yesterday with Acacia Research Corp for an undisclosed sum. The Wall Street Journal reported the move, and Acacia also put a terse statement out confirming the licence agreement. It said the software giant paid licence fees for “a portfolio of patents related to smartphones owned by ACCESS Co, …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Microsoft funded patent troll

    Acacia are a Microsoft funded patent troll. The fact that they have given them more money is no surprise, especially when Windows Phone 7 is around the corner. Other phone manufacturers had better get ready to be sued for patent infringement from Acacia now, as they now have the funds to do this.

    This is just part of Microsofts dirty tricks campaign. Their software cannot compete on merit so they have to do things like this!!

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  2. LawLessLessLaw
    Boffin

    Wingman move

    Pay unsidclosed $1 to settle, watch with glee as other litgants get shafted "Microsoft paid, so can you"

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  3. Giles Jones Gold badge

    Bonkers

    Crazy, paying licence fees for patents just legitimises those patents in the eye of the patent holder. It also gives them money to fight more cases.

    I can see Microsoft putting out a press release that their phones aren't infringing, so buy now.

    Mobile computing is becoming so important that each tech giant is trying to monopolise the market, knowing all too well they can't. So they at least try to weaken competitors products by trying to force them to redesign key features and make the features less elegant to use.

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  4. Hud Dunlap
    Coat

    So why isn't Microsoft called a patent troll?

    I see a double standard here. Unlike Microsoft, the patent trolls are not gaming the system to put competitors out of business. That would be counter productive to them.

    Mine is the one with the Patent for the NAND gate.

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    1. Blain Hamon
      Reply Icon

      Who says they aren't?

      To be fair, the defining feature of a patent troll is that they don't actually make any product, which makes it even harder to defend as there's nothing to countersue. MSFT makes its money through Windows and Office, not litigation.

      I'm hard pressed to think of a large tech company that DOESN'T play this patent lawsuit game. It's like a mexican standoff, each company not willing to lower their software patents until the others do so first.

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