Posted by difenbaker
Samsung paid Microsoft more than $1 billion in patent royalties in 2013
By Steven Johns @stevenjohns · 5 hours ago 10
Microsoft and Samsung have exchanged in a long-standing legal battle for a few years now over patent disputes. In the most recent court battle, Microsoft accused Samsung of violating its contract with Microsoft over issues arising from the Nokia acquisition. The 2011 contract required Samsung to pay Microsoft for any related patents it uses in its products, but Samsung appears to have believed that Microsoft breached the contract after the Nokia acquisition and held out on paying the royalties.
While Samsung did eventually pay the royalties, it held out long enough for Microsoft to become concerned over a loss of interest accrued on the money had they received the payment earlier. It wasn't exactly a small sum-- $6.8 million worth of interest to be exact. Samsung believed they didn't have to pay the interest, so back to court they went.
The suit has been unredacted and is now available for public viewing.
Most interestingly, the law suit mentions that Samsung has already paid over $1 billion in patent royalties in 2013. This is a giant figure and helps to explain why there is such a significant patent war taking place between the tech juggernauts: not only do these companies have to pay huge amounts to their rivals, but they also feel that their rivals owe them huge amounts as well.
The patent wars between the tech giants are far from over, and based on the amount of money that is at stake, it seems like it won't be over any time soon.
http://www.neowin.net/news/sa[....]on-in-patent-royalties-in-2013
http://www.networkworld.com/a[....]id-phones.html#tk.rss_wireless
http://www.computerworld.com/[....]r-to-build-android-phones.html
http://microsoft-news.com/wow[....]A+msftnws+%28Microsoft+News%29
cheers!
Posted by goldenface
Interesting. It would seem that all the established tech giants pay huge amounts of royalties to each other. Sony's, which has been going for decades, patent portfolio must be huge, containing some very important and fundamental patents.
Posted by hihihans
Microsoft gets £10 for every sold Android due to patents. Easy money.
Posted by kunalmothe
Hello,
I don't think that Samsung has to pay royalty to Microsoft. Samsung has its own repo and brand loyalty but now Samsung is become no. 1 mobile seller Asia.