Microsoft this morning announced a patent deal with LG Electronics that covers LG’s tablets, mobile phones and other consumer devices running Google’s Chrome and Android operating systems.
It’s the latest in a series of patent agreements by Microsoft with makers of Android devices, and the company says it now has deals in place covering more than 70 percent of Android smartphones sold in the U.S.
Financial terms of the LG deal weren’t disclosed. In past deals, Microsoft has received royalties on sales of Android devices. Microsoft hasn’t reported any financial details, but at least one estimate has put the sum at more than $400 million a year.
Barnes & Noble and Motorola (which Google is acquiring) are fighting Microsoft over its Android patent claims in court.
Microsoft and Google aren’t involved directly in litigation over the issue, except via Motorola. But Google’s chief legal officer, David Drummond, spoke out in August against what he called “a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents.”
