April 28, 2010 - Microsoft recently made a patent licensing pact with HTC, the smartphone maker who produces the popular "Android" phone. It's a move that may have major implications for Apple's patent infringement lawsuit against HTC, currently pending in U.S. district court in Delaware and before the International Trade Commission (ITC).
HTC and Microsoft already had a working business relationship, and that expands with this agreement.
“HTC and Microsoft have a long history of technical and commercial collaboration, and today’s agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercial arrangements that address intellectual property,” said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft.
What remains to be seen is how the deal with Microsoft will affect the Apple litigation - and if the Microsoft patents trump the ones Apple claims are infringed by Android.