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Microsoft and LG Electronics Sign Patent Cross-Licensing Deal

7:10 am on June 10, 2007 | Category: Business, Law, Software, Wireless Technology

Microsoft Corp. has reached a patent cross-licensing agreement with South Korea’s LG Electronics, allowing both firms to each other’s patented hardware and software technology in new products.

LG will now be able to pre-install Microsoft applications in cellular phones and mobile computing products, even those which are Linux-based. Microsoft, meanwhile, will gain access to LG’s existing intellectual property, and will be able to license future patents registered by the Korean firm.

“This capped four years of negotiations between LG and Microsoft,” commented LG spokeswoman, Judy Pae, without revealing specific terms of the agreement. “The amount Microsoft pays LG is much bigger than what LG pays Microsoft, but I can’t go into financial details.”

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