Microsoft, LG Elec ink licensing deal
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SEOUL/NEW YORK  - Microsoft Corp.  and South Korea's LG Electronics  said on Thursday they have entered into a patent cross-license agreement, sending LG shares to their highest in more than a year.
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CANNES/HELSINKI  - The world's largest mobile  phone maker, Nokia, and software giant Microsoft struck a deal  on Monday to make it easier for consumers to buy digital music  on-line and play it back on their handsets.
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Microsoft and LG Electronics sign cross-licensing patent agreement that covers Linux-based embedded devices.
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SEATTLE - Software giant Microsoft Corp. and corporate network software provider Citrix Systems Inc. said on Tuesday that they had agreed to collaborate and license each other&#39;s technology.
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The two companies confirm their partnership, with Microsoft taking a $240 million stake in Facebook as well as gaining the right to sell ads for Facebook internationally.
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NOVEMBER 22, 2004  - The US Air Force last week announced an enterprisewide software licensing agreement with Microsoft Corp.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft inked another cross-licensing patent agreement Wednesday, this time with South Korea's LG Electronics, covering the company's Linux-based embedded devices. As part of the deal, LG, one of the world's largest electronics companies, can use undefined "patented Microsoft technology" in its products, including Linux-based devices. The agreement also covers intellectual property contained in other hardware and software products, such as game consoles. LG is a manufacturer of CDMA, GSM, and 3G handsets; IP phones; plasma TVs; optical storage products; PDAs; notebook computers; DVD players; and home theater systems, among other electronic products. As in similar deals with Xandros (announced earlier this week), Novell, Samsung and Fuji Xerox, Microsoft did not detail just what patents LG was licensing, and LG did not say if its Linux-based devices violated any Microsoft patents. As part of the deal, Microsoft will have access to LG patents that cover computer architecture utilized in game consoles and other products and will license other LG patents that are owned by system integrator MicroConnect Group, which is based in Manchester, England. "This agreement is focused only on exchange of patent rights," said David Kaefer, general manager of IP licensing at Microsoft. "The open-source elements of the deal do utilize a covenant model similar to the Xandros and Novell deals, but this deal is most similar to recent agreements with Samsung and Fuji Xerox." Those deals were signed this year in April and March, respectively. Both covered general access to intellectual property contained in patent portfolios and included protection for customers using Linux-based software. In terms of the "customer covenant" clause in those deals, Kaefer said, "The covenants are structured very similarly." Microsoft and LG did not release financial terms of the deal but said in a press release that Microsoft would make a "net balancing" payment to LG and MicroConnect for patents related to operating systems and computer systems. Microsoft made a similar "net balancing" payment as part of its deal with Novell that, according to that contract, reflected "the larger applicable volume of Microsoft's product shipments" versus that of Novell's products. In addition, LG will be making ongoing payments to Microsoft to cover Microsoft patents as they relate to Linux-based embedded devices that LG produces. LG Enterprises comprises four business units -- Mobile Communications, Digital Appliance, Digital Display, and Digital Media. The company produced $48.5 billion in global sales in 2006. The company is a member of the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum, which also includes Sony, Panasonic, Motorola, and others. None of those companies have cross-licensing deals with Microsoft. A search on the LG Web site turned up only one reference to Linux, which was the 2005 release of a set-top box sold under the DirecTV brand name that included "a general-purpose Linux-operating-system." In 2001, LG produced a Linux -based wireless webpad for home users that included Internet support and a built-in multimedia player. LG also is a partner of Microsoft in that it licenses Windows CE for use in its IP phones and produces Windows-based notebook computers. The deal with LG comes after Microsoft said last month it would seek royalties for patents that it says are being infringed upon by open-source technologies like Linux. The company, however, said it would prefer to sign patent and cross-licensing deals with open-source distributors rather than seek payments via litigation. The open-source community, specifically the Free Software Foundation, reacted by tweaking the final draft release of the GNU General Public License (GPL) 3.0, which was released May 31, to prohibit such patent deals. The GPLv3 is expected to be officially published on June 29. Open source advocates contend that Microsoft is doing no more than bullying the Linux community with the threat of patent violations because it has not divulged what patents are infringed upon by Linux and other open-source software. Microsoft reiterated this week at its annual TechEd conference that its position is to protect intellectual property rights. "The approach that Microsoft is taking is to work with industry partners to ensure that when customers want to use open-source software, they can do so with the knowledge and security that the software brings with it all the licensing rights that are required," Bob Muglia, senior vice president for server and tools at Microsoft, said during his keynote address Monday. In a press release announcing the partnership, LG and MicroConnect executives struck the same tone. "We believe in the importance of respecting the [intellectual property] rights of others and that patent collaboration and protection is a best business practice the whole industry should be engaged in," said Jeong Hwan Lee, executive vice president of the Intellectual Property Center at LG. Alan Loudermilk, founding partner of MicroConnect, said, "MicroConnect is pleased to be able to make a contribution to the strengthened [intellectual property] relationship between LGE and Microsoft."
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Microsoft on announced it has inked a pact to put mobile versions of its Windows Live services onto handsets made by one of its chief competitors.
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Siebel Systems announced this morning that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase e-billing provider edocs. When the deal closes, Siebel will acquire 180 edocs employees, intellectual property and customer relationships of some 116 companies.
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Software giant Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O  and corporate network software provider Citrix Systems Inc.  CTXS.O said on Tuesday that they had agreed to collaborate  and license each other's technology.
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CANNES/HELSINKI  - The world's largest mobile  phone maker, Nokia, and software giant Microsoft struck a deal  on Monday to make it easier for consumers to buy digital music  online and play it back on their handsets.
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PalmOne Inc. has licensed technology from Microsoft Corp. to make its devices work directly with Microsoft's Exchange e-mail server, the companies said Tuesday.
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WAYNE, NJ - Qualcomm has inked a licensing agreement with Microsoft, under which Qualcomm will integrate Microsoft&#39;s Windows Media Audio and Video codecs into its Qtv video decoder solution.
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Treo, a maker of Palm OS-based smartphones, entered a licensing agreement with Microsoft to allow the next generation of its phones to link up with the ActiveSync technology in Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, the companies said Tuesday.
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Longtime foes palmOne and Microsoft on Tuesday announced a licensing deal that will allow the next generation of palmOne&#39;s Treo smart phones to work directly with Microsoft&#39;s Exchange e-mail system.
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The British National Health Service (NHS) has signed a massive software licensing deal with Microsoft. The deal will ultimately save the NHS $625 million in licensing fees, as well as requiring that Microsoft
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Microsoft is offering a new subscription model to small businesses that will allow them to use the company&#39;s software for less cost than the currently available licensing model.