This is not the first instance of a major, high-tech corporation asserting patents for inventions it did not invent and does not practice. This is simply the most recent instance of a major, high-tech corporation asserting patents for inventions it did not invent and does not practice.
It appears that Microsoft has been licensing a portfolio of over 300 patents to several Android device manufacturers. This was revealed when the Chinese Ministry of Commerce published a list of Microsoft patents that includes 73 standard-essential patents plus another 127 patents that Microsoft claims are used by Android devices.
Did Microsoft invent this technology? Nope. Microsoft purchased these patents from the Rockstar Consortium. Did Rockstar invent this technology? Nope. Rockstar purchased the patents from now-defunct Nortel.
Does Microsoft or Rockstar practice these patents? Nope. Does Microsoft assert these patents against Android device manufacturers? Yep. So how much money are we really talking about? Over $1 billion a year! Microsoft is not just another Patent Troll. Microsoft is the biggest, meanest, baddest Patent Troll in the forest!
And get this: Barnes & Noble – a victim of Patent Troll Microsoft – has retaliated by asking the U.S. Justice Department for an anti-trust investigation into attempts by Microsoft to “kill off” devices from smaller Android players by charging exorbitant licensing fees and filing lawsuits against them.