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Short Sell Nokia NOW! :P

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Renegade:
Same old same old...but now it's even 'better.' :-\
-40hz (September 04, 2013, 10:50 AM)
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I believe you mean that in the reality TV sense of things? :P

Can you just imagine all the fun we'll have laughing at the bloodbaths over the next however long? ;D

Woohoo! BLOOD! BLOOD BLOOD! Ooops! I mean, SHORT! SHORT! SHORT! Oh bother... Perhaps another Winnie the Pooh video would be nice right now...

wraith808:
Patents remain with Nokia, meaning Android handset makers may get sued twice.
-40hz (September 04, 2013, 10:50 AM)
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Giga-what?  Can they even do that?!?  That just seems capital Wrong!

Vurbal:
Patents remain with Nokia, meaning Android handset makers may get sued twice.
-40hz (September 04, 2013, 10:50 AM)
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Giga-what?  Can they even do that?!?  That just seems capital Wrong!
-wraith808 (September 04, 2013, 05:20 PM)
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Well it looks like I had this exactly backwards. It appears what this deal does is allow Nokia to start suing more Android handset makers over their patents. Technically they could have been doing that before except that it would have been counter productive given their partnership with MS.

OTOH Motorola Mobility and Nokia already had a cross-licensing deal which is now transferred to Microsoft. IOW this protects MS from Google suing them over Motorola patents. It also covers similar deals with all kinds of of other companies.

Sure they can - as long as there isn't already a licensing deal in place with Nokia for those patents. The prior MS shakedowns only cover their own patents. If I had to guess, though, I'd say the primary goal is going after Motorola Mobility since Nokia can't compete with Google's deep pockets. Microsoft probably had to promise a nominal licensing fee or a fixed percentage of any lawsuits or licensing agreements - whichever is more.

Nokia already has a licensing deal with Apple and IIRC they're still in the middle of lawsuits against HTC. However depending on the terms they're giving Microsoft (ie whether MS will takeover 3rd party licensing altogether) they may have to drop those suits. My guess is MS will attempt to use the threat of lawsuits over Nokia patents to strongarm Android handset makers into making (or continuing to make) Windows Phones.

The bigger question is how well Nokia's patents will stand up to examination. I suspect on the whole their phone patents aren't significantly stronger than the ones Google got with Motorola. I know at least one Nokia claim against HTC (over Google Play) wasn't going well in Germany. However if MS is the sole source for third party licensing the German courts will most likely hold off on anything permanent pending the results of any US lawsuits. In fact that's possibly a factor in this deal. Put the rights in Microsoft's hands and they get a do over.

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