14 DAY TRIAL // Google has just announced a new program that would protect Android OEMs from patent wars and thus ensure peace among smartphone makers. Google’s PAX agreement stands for Android Networked Cross-License Agreement and aims at avoiding legal disputes over software patents.
Google’s PAX (which means peace in Latin) will help members “grant each other royalty-free patent licenses covering Android and Google Applications on qualified devices.” The open-source Android eco-system has grown massively over the years and now includes more than 400 partner manufacturers and 500 carriers who produced more than 4,000 devices in the past year.
The number of all active users reaches an astonishing 1.6 billion worldwide. With such a competitive eco-system, Google wants to ensure that smartphone makers don’t get caught up in patent wars, and continue to innovate and dedicate their resources to creating new products.
Major OEMs already joined the PAX initiative
A number of technology companies have already signed the new Google PAX agreement, including Google, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Foxconn Technology Group, HMD Global, HTC, Coolpad, BQ and Allview.
These members own more than 230,000 patents worldwide and Google expects more and more companies to join the initiative, which means that fewer Android OEMs will risk being sued over patent infringements. But it’s worth noting that PAX can pose some disadvantages.
OEMs that sign the agreement are safe from patent disputes from other members, but companies that refuse to join might become targets of those safely sitting under the PAX umbrella. In addition, PAX members could become less competitive as they lose their ability to assert their intellectual property against rival members.
Smaller companies who join PAX could benefit the most, as they don’t have to assign valuable financial resources to patent disputes, but their voice will weigh in less among PAX members, in case some adjustments to the agreement were to be made along the way. Considering the confidential nature of PAX, details about the agreement won’t be released and its efficiency can only be proven in time.