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Microsoft files lawsuit against Samsung
- tdicola 12y agoIt's so weird to read this and see Microsoft touting the success of Android like, "Consider this: when Samsung entered into the agreement in 2011, it shipped 82 million Android smartphones. Just three years later, it shipped 314 million Android smartphones ... becoming the leading player in the worldwide smartphone market" I'm sure the marketing folks at MS are wincing when they read that. I wonder what is Samsung's reasoning for breaking the agreement? Was there some kind of clause that MS wouldn't build Android devices to directly compete, and with the Nokia purchase the plans for a Nokia Android device (that were just swiftly stopped after the acquisition was finalized) might have given Samsung an out?
- higherpurpose 12y agoI've been waiting for this to happen. Why? Because Samsung will fight this, and there's a 90 percent chance Microsoft will lose, just like they nearly lost with Barnes and Noble. But unlike B&N, Samsung won't back down this time with a settlement. So this is actually great news for the Android ecosystem. Some of Microsoft's main asserted patents will finally be invalidated. It also doesn't help that all of their 300 asserted patents have now been exposed by the Chinese government, and Google and OEMs can circumvent them in future Android versions (governments should've never allowed them to keep the licensing deals secret in the first place, as it creates an anti-competitive environment and defeats the purpose of patents), obliterating most of Microsoft's Android licensing/extortion business. This lawsuit also comes at a perfect time after the recent Supreme Court ruling.