Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have announced a renewal of their existing patent cross-licensing agreement with a focus on Research and Development. The Redmond company explained that the patent collaboration with HP represented an extension of the two companies' existing partnership. However, neither Microsoft nor HP have made the terms of the patent cross-license agreement public. In the past, with similar partnerships, the software giant would at least indicate which party was being compensated. This is not the case.

At the same time, the two companies indicated that the collaboration spanned a broad range of products, but both failed to mention specific offerings. The explanation provided involves a higher level of access to each other’s patent portfolios for R&D efforts, and the expansion of “technological innovation.” One conclusion that can be drawn from the information provided by Microsoft is that the two companies have entered the agreement as equals, as the software giant emphasized that the partnership “serves as a testament to the innovation taking place at the companies and the strength and breadth of their patent portfolios, which are among the largest and highest-quality in the world.”

“This agreement with HP is a demonstration of Microsoft’s continued commitment to making our IP more readily available to our business partners and the ecosystem at large. Patent cross-licensing is beneficial because it clears the way for companies to create stronger partnerships and innovate in a more open environment that is good for business, and ultimately benefits customers and end users,” said David Kaefer, general manager of Intellectual Property Licensing at Microsoft.

The Redmond company indeed has one of the top patent portfolios in the industry, reflecting the investments made in research and development. In 2008 R&D for Microsoft swallowed over $8 billion, and in 2009, despite the global economic downturn, the software giant will pour even more money into fueling innovation.

“Microsoft will invest this year over $9 billion in R&D to drive advances in search, intelligent applications, cloud computing, natural language, and many other areas. Our goal really is to make computing more powerful, beneficial, and of course accessible to more and more people,” revealed Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft in the first half of May. “But what does it really mean to invest in innovation? Fundamentally, investing in innovation is about unlocking people's creativity, productivity, and imagination. It's about encouraging people to dream up new ideas, discover new ways of doing things, find hidden opportunities by really listening and understanding what customers are saying and wanting.”