Microsoft: We'll Help Customers Create Patents But We Get a License To Use Them (zdnet.com) 52
Microsoft outlined a new intellectual-property policy on Thursday for co-developed technology that embraces open source and seeks to assure customers it won't run off with their innovations. From a report: The shared innovation principles build on its Azure IP Advantage program for helping customers combat patent trolls. The new principles for co-developed innovation cover ownership of existing technology, customer ownership of new patents, support for open source, licensing new IP back to Microsoft, software portability, transparency, and learning. Microsoft president Brad Smith says the principles aim to assuage customers' fears that Microsoft may end up using co-developed technology to rival them.
[...] In return, Microsoft gets to license back any of the patents in the new technology but promises to limit their use to improving its own platform technologies, such as Azure, Azure AI services, Office 365, Windows, Xbox, and HoloLens. It also reserves the right to use "code and tools developed by or on behalf of Microsoft that are intended to provide technical assistance to customers in their respective businesses."
[...] In return, Microsoft gets to license back any of the patents in the new technology but promises to limit their use to improving its own platform technologies, such as Azure, Azure AI services, Office 365, Windows, Xbox, and HoloLens. It also reserves the right to use "code and tools developed by or on behalf of Microsoft that are intended to provide technical assistance to customers in their respective businesses."
The irony is thick (Score:4, Insightful)
A patent troll saying they'll help you with patents? This is rich, even for Microsoft.
Re:The irony is thick (Score:5, Interesting)
A patent troll saying they'll help you with patents? This is rich, even for Microsoft.
*Shrug* . . . it's basically the same deal if you work for a large enough company that has a patent department.
It's your idea . . . your name is on the patent . . . but then it says, "Assigned To: [your employer]" in the title information.
In my case, I received some cash awards for the patents . . . but who knows what they are really worth to my employer.
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That's actually one of the differences between working as an employee or a contractor. Everyone likes to trash talk contractor jobs, but if you're an employee then any IP you create belongs to your employer.
What is more, every contract I've signed gave them the right to all of my inventions forever, even after leaving the companies. Probably wouldn't hold up in court, but if there was enough money involved, I'm certain they'd all try to claim it.
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Care to explain? I haven't really seen much patent trolling from Microsoft. I have seen them being attacked by a ton of patent trolls though...
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Says the AC....
Seriously, Microsoft has done shady legal shit in the past (and present) but none of it was of the patent troll pattern of shaking people down on obvious patents unlike the action we've seen from NPEs against small developers. If you have an example that I've missed of MS doing that, post it. If not, STFU.
Re:The irony is thick (Score:5, Informative)
And this is only one obvious troll. They usually troll under shell companies so cannot be linked to MS directly. This [wikipedia.org] being probably most famous one. I know of a few others, and probably many more that we don't know about because we only know of the ones that leaked by accident.
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A patent troll saying they'll help you with patents? This is rich, even for Microsoft.
Given that they say they will require you to licence-back the patents for use in their products, it might be more fair to say that they are helping themselves to your patents...
Which is more in line to what you might expecting...
For a fee... (Score:4, Insightful)
...Microsoft will troll you with your own patents. It's a superb get-rich-quick scheme.
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License back? (Score:1)
"You have developed an incredibly innovative piece of software! We'll help you patent it. All we ask is that we license it from you. Here is our standard contract that everyone signs. "
So, you start skimming through the hundreds of pages of legalese - the lawyer wanted $300/hr - and you discover that Microsoft will pay you $1 for perpetuity.
I don't give a shit WTF they SAY, it's what is in writing that counts.
Re:License back? (Score:4, Interesting)
What I find more to the point, what is the long term support of this? Say I make an innovative piece of software, however it was outside Microsoft scope, 19 years later will they still help me protect my patent?
Or say I want to license it to an other company say Apple? In that mess of legalese will I have the right to do so? And what is to say the Current Nice Guy image of Microsoft regresses back to Bully Microsoft that we seen with Gates and Balmer.
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What I find more to the point, what is the long term support of this? Say I make an innovative piece of software, however it was outside Microsoft scope, 19 years later will they still help me protect my patent?
In patent, you pay maintenance fees [uspto.gov] at each mark year (3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years of patent life time starting from the filing date). If they (MS) are paying all the maintenance fees (including year 11.5), then your example would have no meaning because they definitely will help you protect your patent at 19th year. If they don't pay but you do, then your example is still null because they won't care if anyone infringes your patent because they aren't the one who is being financially damaged (but you). Beside
Sounds like a protection racket to me (Score:2, Interesting)
That's a nice piece of tech you've got there, shame if something.. happened to it, say, from a patent troll. But your good old Uncle Microsoft is here to help you out, isn't that great? Since you're such a good guy, we don't even want anything from you -- we just want to help! -- but it would be nice if you'd let us use your technology, you know, just to make our own stuff work a little better.
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We promise we won't sell as a competitor to you. Nope, no way that we'll use our billions of dollars to outproduce you. Never.
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Yeah...
promises to limit their use to improving its own platform technologies
...are only as solid as the spongy definition of "platform technologies"
Dumb Dumb Remember Spyglass, everyone? (Score:5, Insightful)
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While I'm skeptical about the service.. (Score:4, Insightful)
If I were a technology company, I wouldn't want to go anywhere near other people's future without something like a license to use the patents.
I would be in great fear that someone in my company would do something that resembles a private draft of a patent one of those users is working on. This happens all the time by coincidence, but having access to customer research/draft prior to patent application just raises a lot more suspicion if you happen to do the same or similar thing as that research goes to.
If you want a service to help you with patents and you want to keep control of it, you go to a legal company, not a technology company that is likely to have a conflict of interest.
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future patents I meant.
Bold Face Lies are in fashion these days (Score:3)
"We'll help out with the legal aspect so developers don't have to worry about it. Trust us".
Microsoft lies, news at 11.
Open Letter to Hobbyists (Score:2, Flamebait)
// FIXME (Score:1)
China ??? (Score:2)
I am sure speak for a lot of people ... (Score:1)
Dont use Microsoft (Score:2)
Use Microsoft products to play computer games.
Use a real OS to work on your patent. Ensure you get your patent.
GPL (Score:2)
For any programmer who hasn't heard of GPL3, just give your IP to Micro$oft.
Bend over and take it like a man.