Hasta La Gadget!

It would appear that HTC is now set up to pay two giant companies for the rights to use their patents rather than face their legal wrath: their newest being Apple for $6-8 USD a phone. The other company HTC is into for cash-per-device is Microsoft, revealed all the way back in 2010 as an industry changing agreement for $5 USD a phone. The difference between that fee and this are small for HTC and for Apple and Microsoft in the end, but for this one fact: it does still appear that Microsoft makes more from Android-carrying device patent license fees than it does from its own Windows Phone platform – though that may change in the oncoming Windows Phone 8 season.

This information on how much HTC is likely paying Apple comes from Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu, a man with vested interests in getting analysis right around these companies getting his own information from “conversations with industry sources.” As it stands, should HTC continue to sell 30-35 million Android smartphones annually, they’ll be paying $180-$280 million annually to Apple. HTC’s total per phone payed to Microsoft and Apple will soon be between $11-$13 USD per phone – tiny or giant, however you choose to see it.

HTC’s license fees here have more of an impact on the way Apple does business than it does on how it does business simply because Apple hasn’t recently been entering into agreements like this – quite the opposite. Instead, Apple has been entering into litigation with groups such as Samsung – grabbing millions from them after arduous legal processes. Prolonged as those fights inevitably are, it may be that Apple has found a better way to do business with settlements such as these.

Have a peek at the timeline below to see other recent Apple legal matters – and see if you can tell why Apple may just want to be out of the courtroom as much as possible into the future. HTC too may be finding itself in either a really terrible place at the moment (not likely) or a great place – with both Microsoft and Apple having enough confidence in their future to make long-lasting agreements, be they negative or not.

[via Business Insider]

HTC signs up for the Apple tax: $6-8 per Android phone is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Dolby spinoff Via Licensing has shone a signal into the night sky and assembled some of the world’s biggest telecoms players to form a patent supergroup. AT&T, NTT DoCoMo and Telefonica are some of the names that’ll pool their standards-essential LTE patents to prevent getting embroiled in litigation over FRAND licensing. While there are some notable holdouts to the team, we suggest company president Roger Ross coax them over by hiring Michael McCuistion to write them a rockin’ theme song.

Continue reading Via Licensing assembles an LTE supergroup to share standards-essential patents

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

Via Licensing assembles an LTE supergroup to share standards-essential patents originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 01:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While some patent lawsuits continue to drag on, the battle between TiVo and Verizon over DVR technology has come to a resolution. In exchange for cross licensing their patents and dismissing all pending litigation, the two parties have agreed Verizon will pay TiVo $100 million up front followed by recurring quarterly payments totaling $150.4 million through July 2018, as well as monthly license fees for each FiOS DVR user above certain levels. Now that they’re no longer at war the two companies may find a few things to work together on, and there is a provision for “certain commercial initiatives” which, if pursued this year, could count as credits toward the amount Verizon has agreed to pay.

Additionally, the press release indicates they are exploring support for the upcoming Redbox Instant service (which Verizon is a partner in) on TiVo’s DVRs. This all follows TiVo’s $215 million settlement with AT&T earlier this year and last year’s $500 million agreement with Dish Network. Meanwhile, lawsuits are still pending against Cisco, Time Warner Cable and Motorola. The press release is after the break and associated filings are linked below, with any luck this infusion of cash will help TiVo on new projects like dropping the price of the Stream.

[Thanks, Dave Zatz]

Continue reading TiVo settles patent lawsuit with Verizon for at least $250 million, is ‘exploring’ Redbox Instant support

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

TiVo settles patent lawsuit with Verizon for at least $250 million, is ‘exploring’ Redbox Instant support originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Struggling BlackBerry platform holder RIM announced today that it has reached a licensing deal with Microsoft, but instead of RIM licensing out its tech like CEO Thorsten Heins has suggested many times in the past, RIM is the one paying out the licensing fee this time around. The deal gives RIM access to Microsoft’s Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) technology, a system that allows for the easy transfer of large files between PCs and other devices like smartphones.

Microsoft said in a statement today that exFAT allows flash memory-based devices to handle files that are five times larger than the older FAT system could facilitate, and that RIM has licensed the system “for certain BlackBerry devices.” Neither company clarified which devices those are, but it seems safe to assume that the exFAT system will be present in the first BlackBerry 10 devices when they eventually arrive. Beyond that, we’ll have to wait for more details.

RIM actually enjoyed a rise in stock price after the announcement hit, but the company’s stock price continued fluctuating throughout the day, losing here and gaining there. Still, RIM finished the regular trading day up 2.28%, posting a $7.41 stock price at the closing bell. After hours trading see a bit of an increase over that closing amount as well, with RIM’s stock currently sitting at $7.45. It seems that shareholders view this as a step in the right direction for RIM, but will it be enough?

RIM will definitely need more than Microsoft’s exFAT system to get users excited about BlackBerry 10, but this is a good addition. Speaking of the beleaguered operating system, it’s still scheduled to launch early next year, after a number of delays that pushed it back from previous release dates. RIM has a lot riding on the hope that the launch of BlackBerry 10 will pull the company out of this rut, so here’s hoping that the OS is a beast when it finally arrives.

RIM and Microsoft strike up a licensing deal for exFAT is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple and Motorola have apparently started discussing a licensing deal for some of Motorola’s standard-essential patents in Germany. FOSS Patents reports that Motorola announced the work-in-progress deal last night, though the two have yet to agree on the price that Apple will pay for licensing. As many of you already know, Motorola and its new parent company Google have taken Apple to court, attempting to get a number of iDevices banned for patent infringement.

This case between Motorola and Apple echoes the recently-ended patent suit between Apple and Samsung. Apple came out on top in that case, and things are looking pretty good for the iPhone maker in Germany now as well. Standard-essential patents must be licensed under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (FRAND), so now the two companies are trying to work out those terms. If Motorola and Apple can’t agree on a suitable FRAND rate, then the royalty Apple will be paying Motorola will be decided by the German court.

Naturally, this licensing deal only applies to Apple devices sold in Germany, so elsewhere in the world, the legal battle rages on. Motorola might have a difficult time moving forward with its case, as FOSS Patents points out that now Motorola will have to rely on non-standard-essential patents to try to get what it wants out of Apple. In that case, the worst Google and Motorola will probably be able to do is pump up the royalty rate Apple would have to pay.

It’s worth pointing out that essential patents don’t always stand up well in court. Samsung pointed to several of its essential patents in the trial against Apple, but that strategy didn’t work out as the jury found that Apple wasn’t infringing on them. Will Motorola and Google get what they want out of this case? That’s still hard to call, but with this licensing deal in Germany, it might make it difficult for Motorola to continue on. Stay tuned.

Apple and Motorola working on licensing deal in Germany is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.