Microsoft Signs Linux Pact with LG Electronics

[Sunite]

Microsoft Signs Linux Pact with LG Electronics
By Barry Levine
June 7, 2007 9:30AM

   Digg It!   Bookmark to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Microsoft's new deal with LG Electronics to cross-license patents -- in particular patents that Microsoft claims relate to the use of Linux -- follows similar deals that Microsoft has inked with Xandros, Samsung, and, most notably, Novell. Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio said such deals with the software giant serve to legitimize Linux.

Related Topics
   Microsoft
   LG Electronics
   Linux
   Open Source
   Patents
   Intellectual Property
   GPL
   GNU

Latest News
   Notebooks Drive Massive Growth at HP
   AT&T Buys Pay-Per-Call Search Firm
   Can Salesforce Become a Platform?
   SAP Cuts Ties with Execs at Subsidiary
   Vodafone Balks at T-Mobile iPhone Deal
Advertisement

Advertisement

   If it were a cowboy movie, this is the point where Microsoft Relevant Products/Services, having warned all the Linux ranchers that it actually has title to their cattle, strikes protection deals with them one by one -- and now reaches LG Electronics.

On Thursday, the Redmond, Washington-based software giant announced another cross-licensing deal in which Microsoft grants rights to some of its patents, and in particular those patents that Microsoft claims relate to Linux. Microsoft has said that Linux and related open-source software infringe on some 235 of its patents, a declaration that is adamantly opposed by members of the open-source community.

"Through the agreement," Microsoft said in a statement, "LG will be able to use Microsoft-patented innovations in its products, including Linux-based embedded devices."

As part of the deal, Microsoft will make payments to LG, and to business solutions provider MicroConnect Group, for operating and computer systems patents, and LG will pay Microsoft for its patents relating to Linux.

Xandros, Samsung, Novell

On Monday, Microsoft announced a similar deal with Linux server and desktop provider Xandros, which included an arrangement not to sue Xandros' Linux customers. And earlier this year in April, there was a deal with Samsung. In addition to allowing each to license the other's patents, that deal grants liability coverage to Samsung for Linux-related intellectual property that Microsoft contends it owns.

The most notable such deal, and probably most controversial so far, was the arrangement in November of last year between Microsoft and Novell. In a subsequent and widely cited "Open Letter to the Community," Novell said that the deal included a promise that each of the parties would not sue the other's customers for patent infringement.

But Novell also said that it disagreed with Microsoft's claim to patents affecting Linux. "Importantly," Novell said in the Open Letter, "our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an acknowledgement that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property. When we entered the patent cooperation agreement with Microsoft, Novell did not agree or admit that Linux or any other Novell offering violates Microsoft patents."

Everyone Infringing Everybody

Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio said that, "if you use a fine tooth comb and look at the many lines of code that go into most software, you'll find that everyone is infringing on everybody." But the chances of even Microsoft taking anyone to court over patent infringement, she said, "are slim."

The smaller companies don't have much to worry about, she said. Microsoft isn't going to sue them because there isn't much to gain, and many of the larger companies will end up doing similar cross-licensing deals with the software giant.

She noted it is easiest for Microsoft to say that it identifies patent violations, then say, "Let's all be reasonable and hammer out a cross-licensing deal." This tactic is not hurting Linux, she said, which remains in a "very good position vis-à-vis Microsoft." In fact, she said, deals of this kind legitimize Linux and might even help increase its momentum.