Microsoft inks Android patent royalty deal with Samsung

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced it has reached a definitive agreement with Samsung Electronics to cross-license the patent portfolios of both companies. Per terms of the deal, Microsoft will receive royalties for all Samsung smartphones and tablets running Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android mobile platform. The firms also agreed to partner on developing and marketing Microsoft's own Windows Phone mobile operating system.

The Samsung deal marks the seventh licensing agreement Microsoft has signed in the past three months with manufacturers building Android-powered devices. Microsoft previously inked agreements with Acer, General Dynamics Itronix, Onkyo, Velocity Micro, ViewSonic and Wistron.

"Together with the license agreement signed last year with HTC, today's agreement with Samsung means that the top two Android handset manufacturers in the United States have now acquired licenses to Microsoft's patent portfolio," write Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith and deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez on the Microsoft on the Issues blog. "These two companies together accounted for more than half of all Android phones sold in the U.S. over the past year. That leaves Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI), with which Microsoft is currently in litigation, as the only major Android smartphone manufacturer in the U.S. without a license." Blog