Google has dropped two patent claims it was pursuing against Microsoft after the Redmond company refused to pay royalties.
The claims relate to H.264 video compression patents held by Motorola Mobility, which Microsoft refused to cough up for because it said Motorola/Google was asking for far more than the patents were worth.
Under the freshly inked FTC agreement announced last week, Google has to abide by the friendly-sounding FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms, meaning its royalty payments have to be fair.
You've got a FRAND in me
If Google has withdrawn these patent claims because of the new FTC deal, which seems likely, there could be more patent disputes leaving the courtroom in the near future.
Microsoft's corporate vice president and deputy general counsel said that the company hopes that Google "will now withdraw similar claims pending in other jurisdictions" and leave them the hell alone.
Could this signal the beginning of the end of the tech patent wars? Until someone can rein Apple and Samsung in, we suspect not.
Source : techradar[dot]com
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