Microsoft and Canon have signed a patent cross-licensing agreement. The company did not disclose the exact term of the deal but said that both will share intellectual property on a “broad range of products and services,” including those for certain digital imaging and mobile consumer products.
“This collaborative approach with Canon allows us to deliver inventive technologies that benefit consumers around the world. Microsoft believes cooperative licensing is an effective way to accelerate innovation while reducing patent disputes.”
said Nick Psyhogeos, GM, associate general counsel, IP Licensing of the Innovation and Intellectual Property Group at Microsoft in a statement.
Today’s patent agreement isn’t the first forged by the two companies. In 2009, Microsoft said that Canon was among the first firms to sign up for a licensing program for its Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) technology. Back in April Microsoft signed a patent agreement with Motorola Solutions and signed an agreement with Dell in April.
Since Microsoft launched its IP licensing program in December 2003, the company has entered into more than 1,100 licensing agreements and continues to develop programs that open Microsoft’s IP portfolio for customers, partners and competitors. We have seen a number of patent cross licencing agreement lately. Earlier this year, Samsung signed a 10 year patent agreement with Google and another agreement with Ericsson.