Microsoft Corp and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) on Thursday agreed to an expansion of an earlier patent licensing agreement between the companies in a bid to pave the way for a closer integration between the two.
The announcement came a day after Microsoft and Google Inc agreed to settle all 18 cases of patent infringement litigation against each other.
The agreement between the Taiwanese PC maker and the US software giant includes pre-installation by Asustek of Microsoft Office productivity services on the company’s Android smartphones and tablets, which would broaden the two companies’ patent licensing engagement, Microsoft said in a statement released on Thursday.
“This agreement delivers significant value for both companies,” president of Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC Nick Psyhogeos said in the statement, adding that the expansion of the patent licensing agreement opens the door to collaboration between Microsoft and Asustek.
DEAL
The deal also facilitates technology sharing toward the development of innovative product solutions, the statement said.
“Microsoft is Asustek’s long term partner. The expansion on the patent license agreement would strengthen the two companies’ relationships,” Asustek’s chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) said by telephone.
Wu said Asustek has already started to ship tablets bundled with Microsoft Office’s productivity apps.
Speaking about Asustek’s smartphone products, Wu said because preinstalling Microsoft apps in Asustek devices were optional, the company has not yet decided which handset device to preinstall the apps in.
Wu denied speculations of Microsoft agreeing not to sue Asustek over its Android patents in exchange for a deal that to preinstall Microsoft Office software on Asustek’s Android smartphones and tablets.
We have been discussing patent licensing issues for a while, but Asustek does not have any legal disputes with Microsoft regarding this issue,” Wu said.
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