MS pursues more patent partnerships
By Kim Yoo-chul
Horacio Gutierrez, deputy counsel of intellectual property and licensing at Microsoft.
The head of Microsoft (MS)’s intellectual property and licensing unit hinted that the U.S. technology giant will continue to expand patent partnerships with major Korean firms, including Samsung and LG, describing continuing relations as “mutually beneficial partnerships.”
In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Horacio Gutierrez, deputy counsel of intellectual property (IP) and licensing at MS, said that such partnerships both in patents and others allow Microsoft to benefit from Samsung and LG inventions, and vice versa.
“We have longstanding partnerships with companies like Samsung and LG that extend far beyond patent licensing agreements. We believe these partnerships are mutually beneficial to our customers and shareholders,” he said.
“We regularly update elements of these partnerships to accommodate changes in product lines, our patent portfolios and customer needs. We see any updates to our patent licensing agreements with these companies as a continuation of our deep, mutually beneficial partnerships in many areas.”
This is the first time that MS’s patent chief has spoken with Korean media.
He said that licensing agreements are a good way of creating innovative products.
“We have signed over 1,100 agreements to license its patents. Because we respect the patents of others, we’ve spent over $4 billion in the past decade to license patents from others when we think our customers will benefit from them,” Gutierrez said.
“In short, we believe licensing agreements are an efficient and effective way to share technologies among many companies that invent new things and build products,” he continued.
“Today, people demand a single product, like a phone or tablet. If one phone or tablet maker is able to license inventions from others, it can deliver many great experiences to its customers in one device without having to undertake all the research and development itself."
According to Gutierrez, MS has so far signed licensing agreements with over 20 handset manufacturers, including China’s ZTE and Taiwan’s HTC, that run on Google’s Android platform.
Patent disputes
In today’s era of connected devices, a growing number of technology companies are heavily entangled in very costly litigation disputes.
Samsung Electronics is still involved in legal battles with its top customer and competitor, Apple.
Gutierrez declined to comment about the Samsung-Apple litigation issues.
He observed, however, that “disputes arise more among companies that don’t wish to license their patents or don’t have a consistent approach to dealing with their intellectual property needs.”
The Washington-based firm, itself, has also grappled with litigation issues with Motorola.
The executive hinted of the company signing a licensing agreement with Motorola but didn’t elaborate on how that will be done.
“Most companies believe in patent licensing, both licensing in patents from others and licensing out their inventions. We believe companies with this philosophy will generally have fewer disputes, and we think that’s why we have affirmative patent cases pending against only one company, Motorola. In short, we far prefer to license our patents rather than litigation in court,” Gutierrez responded.
He stressed that MS has been consistent in helping companies shift the burden of clearing patent rights to manufacturers.
“When Google released its Android operating system, it left the burden of clearing patent rights to manufacturers,” he said.
While the MS’s share in the software market has been declining because of Google Android and Apple iOS, the executive said its Windows mobile platform will continue to grow.
“Microsoft has made numerous investments over the years to make the PC more powerful, and we’re pleased that so many companies now want to unlock these investments for the benefit of their mobile customers.”