Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had entered into patent
licensing arrangements with Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT), it was revealed
at the trial between Apple and Samsung.
The Cupertino company had licensed some of its designs
and features to the world's largest software company with the specific proviso
that it would not clone or copy it in any way.
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However the patents licensed ere not the same ones
that are now under dispute between Apple and Samsung, the former's patent licensing
director Boris Teksler said on court.
Details about the licensing arrangement between the
iPhone maker and Microsoft were however not disclosed publicly as it has been
decided to keep cross-licensing deals out of the public domain to protect companies
from weakened positions in future negotiations.
The news about the cross-licensing arrangements
between the two companies has had the analyst community speculating that had
Samsung and Apple entered into similar arrangement then the whole dispute would
not have come about.
Apple is suing Samsung alleging that it has copied the
designs of its iPads, iPhones for its mobile devices that have made it the
largest selling smartphone company in the world.
Cross-licensing deals between companies are very sensitive
and have several riders attached to them. For instance, both Bill Gates and the
late Steve Jobs had entered into an agreement long back that they would not
compete with each other on certain areas.
Both Microsoft and Apple also have strong Intellectual
Property Rights and technology innovation and so far they have refrained from
stepping on each other’s toes though both are competitors in several areas,
most notably in desktop computing.
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Analysts will be on the lookout for Microsoft’s
Surface Tablets to watch for possible design differences or similarities with
the iPad.
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