While smartphone and tablet markets suffer by various complaints for violations of intellectual property, Google and Samsung announced that they have signed a ten-year agreement.
To better guard against complaints from their respective competitors, Google and Samsung have decided to strengthen their partnership, which now includes the sharing of intellectual property.
Whether multipoint, ergonomics of the system, synchronization technologies, the use of different sensors or components of the camera, several fundamental elements constituting the smartphone or tablet are found in the mind of various legal discord. In this highly competitive environment, Google is now closer to its main partner Samsung, which now holds more than 80% of the Android market.
In an official statement, Samsung reported the words of Allen Lo, head of intellectual property at Google, which says: “We’re pleased to enter into a cross-license with our partner Samsung. By working together on agreements like this, companies can reduce the potential for litigation and focus instead on innovation.” For Seungho Ahn, director of the center of intellectual property at Samsung, it is an example "to the rest of the industry" that cooperation is better than confrontation.
In the past, Samsung has faced such Apple complaints in the United States, Asia and Europe. Google and several Android manufacturers – including Samsung – are currently in the crosshairs Group Rockstar Bidco, a company founded by Microsoft, Apple, Sony and BlackBerry following the redemption of Nortel grouped patents. Microsoft pointing its hand on several violations of its technologies, has negotiated various agreements with partners Google to collect a few dollars on each sale of their devices.
To better position, Google had made the acquisition of Motorola Mobility in August 2011 for $12.5 billion and several specialists agree that this initiative was primarily aimed at recovering the various patents of mobility specialist.
The reconciliation between Google and Samsung includes sharing their respective proprietary technologies but also patents which will be validated during the next 10 years. Incidentally, the two companies do not appear to have limited the agreement to the field of mobile devices.
