Microsoft earning $2,000,000,000 on Android patent royalties?!

[thewayne]

Wow. This right here shows precisely why the patent wars will probably never go away. Microsoft doesn't make anything in Android OS, doesn't contribute to the Android OS, and is making 95% profit on that. The 5%, or roughly $10 million, is probably off to lawyers and acquiring more patents.

It's a good thing they're making so much pure profit on their Android patents, it makes their Xbox and Windows Phone lines look profitable.

http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-earns-2-billion-per-year-from-android-patent-royalties-2013-11

Comments

[silveradept]

Great Maker. With things like that, it seems like the best option is to void all software patents and ban them from existence.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Yep. I think patents serve a valuable purpose, but they've been corrupted through their becoming weaponized. Patent holders should have to (A) produce a working product, which would eliminate most software patents, and (B) prove that a reasonable search has been done to show originality. There's so many posts on Slashdot where patents have been ripped to shreds based on prior art.

[silveradept]

And hopefully with stringent standards on what counts as reasonable. Yes, please, let this morass of things be cleared away. Then we can turn our attention to the zombie that is copyright...