ZTE might be a wee bit late to the party, but you know what they say – better late than never. Most of the other Android smartphone manufacturers and vendors have already signed up with Microsoft’s patent program, and now, ZTE of China has also jumped aboard the ship as ZTE and Microsoft both inked an agreement for the former’s Android and Chrome patent licensing program.
In case you didn’t know, virtually every major Android player is paying royalties to Microsoft, since the company behind Windows has been able to successfully litigate against Android handset makers concerning a number of patents infringements. Since then, companies like Viewsonic, Samsung, Quanta, HTC and others have agreed to pay Microsoft. Google has complained, but so far has not been able to stop this practice.
There were no details (especially financials) released concerning this ZTE deal, but this particular agreement does offer ZTE access to Microsoft patents that would cover a multitude of devices, including smartphones, tablets, computers and other devices which are powered by Google’s Android and Chrome operating systems. ZTE can therefore build Android devices without fear of legal attacks from Microsoft. With ZTE rolling out a couple of new devices recently, this particular agreement does seem to make much sense.
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