The Chinese government has published Microsoft's Android patents online

Jun 16, 2014 11:17 GMT  ·  By
Microsoft is making $2 billion (1.5 billion euro) every year with Android patents
   Microsoft is making $2 billion (1.5 billion euro) every year with Android patents

Even though it sells no Android product, Microsoft is a company that makes billions of dollars each year with Android royalties, as it holds many of the patents that manufacturers need to launch smartphones, tablets, and other devices running this particular mobile platform.

The list of patents owned by Microsoft has never been disclosed, but the Chinese government has recently decided to make it public for no apparent reason.

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) published a list of more than 300 patents owned by Microsoft and which have been included in Redmond's takeover of Nokia, which has been concluded a couple of months ago.

According to a report by Ars Technica, which found the documents posted on the English version of MOFCOM's website, 73 of these patents are said to be standard-essential patents which are mostly used on smartphones.

At the same time, China also revealed 127 patents that are said to be part of several Android devices, as well as several other non-standard-essential patents that are offered on other technologies.

Microsoft hasn't yet commented on this, but the company cannot be pleased with the fact that the Chinese government decided to make public some of its secret patents, so expect an official reaction sometime in the near future.