Samsung and Microsoft have announced that Samsung will pay a royalty to Microsoft for every Android device the company sells in the United States.
The deal means that Microsoft has now convinced the two largest Android device makers, HTC and Samsung, to pony up to avoid potentially costly legal action in yet more of the smartphone patent wars.
"These agreements prove that licensing works. They show what can be achieved when companies sit down and address intellectual property issues in a responsible manner," wrote Microsoft councels Brad Smith and Horacio Gutierrez.
Microsoft's legal bosses took the opportunity to denounce Google's claims that patents had the potential to stifle innovation, pointing out that the only remaining major Android maker is Motorola Mobility, a company Google is hoping to acquire specifically to fend off patent attacks.
"There undoubtedly will be a good deal of additional drama before this new generation of patent issues sorts itself out in its entirety," Microsoft added.
No doubt.
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