Tablet maker Velocity Micro just signed a patent license agreement with MS
The maker of the Cruz Android tablet have just agreed to start paying Microsoft a license fee so it can keep making Android tablets. The parties didn’t announce how much would be paid, or which patents were covered by the agreement, but it is clear that MS have scared another tablet maker into coughing up some dough.
Velocity Micro are the third company to give in to MS. HTC signed a deal last year, and reportedly gave MS $5 from each Android smartphone it made. Also, General Dynamics Itronix signed a similar agreement on Monday. There are no details on that one either, but it probably covers the Andorid tablets made by GD Itronix.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Velocity Micro, Inc., to address and secure IP rights for its Android-based Cruz™ tablet devices,” said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft.
Now that this agreement is behind them, Velocity Micro will likely announce new plans for their Android tablets. I was told on Monday that revised versions of the Cruz tablets would be announced in the next few weeks.
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Patents – Reality and Misconceptions – The Digital Reader October 13, 2011 um 8:13 pm
[…] covered Microsoft’s patent agreements before (here and here), and they all pretty much come down to the deal announced today. All the companies pay a vig to […]