Microsoft has agreed a worldwide patent licensing deal with Hon Hai, the parent company of Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn. It’ll cover Hon Hai for producing smartphones, tablets and smart TVs that use the Android and Chrome operating systems.
Full details are confidential but Microsoft will receive royalties from Hon Hai.
Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of the Intellectual Property Group at Microsoft, said “We are pleased that the list of companies benefitting from Microsoft’s Android licensing program now includes the world’s largest contract manufacturer, Hon Hai. By licensing both brand name companies and their contract manufacturers, we have successfully increased the overall effectiveness and global reach of the program.”
Samuel Fu, director of the Intellectual Property Department at Hon Hai, said “Hon Hai is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer that holds more than 54,000 patents worldwide. We recognize and respect the importance of international efforts that seek to protect intellectual property. The licensing agreement with Microsoft represents those efforts and our continued support of international trade agreements that facilitate implementation of effective patent protection.”
Microsoft has previously signed Android-related patent agreements with manufacturers including Acer, HTC, Samsung and ViewSonic.
[More details: FOSSPatents.com]