Microsoft Inks Broad Patent Cross-Licensing Agreement with Lexmark

Lexmark is the latest company to jump aboard Microsoft’s IP licensing wagon. The two companies have inked a broad patent cross-licensing agreement, designed to streamline access to each other’s intellectual property portfolios. According to the Redmond company, the deal has been inked to ensure additional “resources” to drive technological innovation, but also to fuel the development of the company's respective product lines in the context of evolving the UX for customers.

David Kaefer, general manager of Intellectual Property Licensing at Microsoft, has indicated that having access to additional IP portfolios is yet another measure capable of fending off companies from the tough global financial climate.

“We believe that intellectual property (IP) licensing, especially during tough economic times, is an empowering way to foster collaboration and bring product differentiation to consumers,” Kaefer states. “Because both Microsoft and Lexmark have access to an extensive range of technologies, this agreement will allow each company to shorten its development cycle and increase its focus on customer-related innovation.”

The two companies have pinpointed that the printers and multifunction products produced by Lexmark as well as the Redmond company's software solutions are covered by the broad patent cross-licensing agreement. However, neither party has wished to make the terms of the agreement public, nor to indicate if any of them is being compensated by the other.

Both Microsoft and Lexmark account for top patent portfolios in their respective field, and, in this regard, the new IP alliance is bound to benefit the duo and their customers. “This agreement allows both companies to benefit from sharing the innovation in our respective patent portfolios,” Marty Canning, Lexmark vice president and president of its Printing Solutions and Services Division, reveals. “We believe this agreement will improve the productivity of both our businesses and result in enhanced product offerings and increased satisfaction for all our customers.”