Microsoft’s always surprising. First, CEO Steve Ballmer praises Apple’s App Store and now another executive said Apple’s patent lawsuit against HTC “is not necessarily a bad thing.”
During a speech about copyright last week, Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel and senior VP, said the lawsuit can help determine the proper roles patents play in the smartphone space. While the software giant is not going to pull a Google and take sides, it said the issue of radio technologies in phones has already been sorted out and it will just take time for other elements to fall in to place.
“I think it’s premature to endorse or offer any other reaction to it,” Smith said. “But as I mentioned, the fact that there are efforts to sort out these issues are on balance a positive development for the market because they typically take an important role in sorting this kind of issue out.”
Microsoft’s bread and butter has been licensing software, so it’s not very surprising it doesn’t believe in open source operating systems for smartphones. HTC has been a major partner for years and has been one of the few to still make high-quality Windows Mobile phones – you would think Microsoft would be eager to have HTC’s back. Hopefully, Microsoft is right about the positive aspects of the lawsuit because I’m sick of reading about how many patent cases we’re seeing.
[Via AppleInsider and The Seattle Times]