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Such shady tactics aren't limited to small companies - Microsoft kept its Android patents secret for as long as possible: https://www.zdnet.com/article/310-micr

• Wistar 7y ago
  Microsoft did not try to keep their Android patents secret but did try to keep secret the list of which of their Android patents were used in licensing deals. This is a key difference as, unlike patents, licensing deals and the list of patents included in those deals are not public information and keeping them confidential does not seem to me to be "shady." The individual patents, provided you knew which were involved, could and can be easily looked up and read.
  • deogeo 7y ago
    > This is a key difference It is a distinction without a difference - without knowing which patents are 'Android patents' (i.e. the ones in the licensing deals), avoiding them is impossible.
    • Wistar 7y ago
      A two-term USPTO search for "Microsoft" and "Android" plus any terms specific to the technolog(ies) you are interested in reveals their patents.
    • tzs 7y ago
      Could you find them by looking at the patent markings on Android devices (or in the accompanying documents) made by companies that licensed the patents? The patent licensing deal that granted them the right to use those patents should have included a requirement that they mark.
      • deogeo 7y ago
        From the wording of that story I assume no, or it wouldn't have required the Chinese government to reveal them.