Google, Verizon Patent Deal Could Cut Future Litigation
Google and Verizon have entered into a long-term patent cross-license agreement intended to thwart lawsuits from trolls, PC Magazine reports.
The deal covers “a broad range of products and technologies,” though neither company expanded on the details.
A joint press release said the deal ideally will allow Verizon and Google to ward off future patent litigation.
“In high-tech industries like ours, the patent system can be exploited to get in the way of innovation,” wrote Verizon’s general counsel, Randal Milch. “High-tech products can implicate thousands of patents, and when patent litigation takes years, costs millions of dollars, and comes long after innovators have launched new products, the Johnny-come-lately owner of a single patent can threaten an entire innovative ecosystem. That’s bad for innovation and bad for American consumers.”
