Microsoft reduces risk of patent infringement with Microsoft Azure IP Advantage programme

Source: Microsoft. Graphic illustrating the Microsoft Azure IP Advantage initiative.

According to Boston Consulting Group, there has been a 22% rise in cloud-based intellectual property (IP) lawsuits have been growing over the last five years in the US. It is only a matter of time before similar legal challenges become as common in the rest of the world, especially since non-practicing entities (NPEs) have increased their acquisition of cloud-related patents by 35‰ over the same period.

"One challenge that technology leaders such as Microsoft have long addressed is the risk of patent infringement. We have over two decades of experience and a broad legal infrastructure designed to manage these risks. We’ve thought about our role in promoting digital opportunities more broadly for companies across the economy. We’ve decided that we will use Microsoft’s patent portfolio to help protect our cloud customers," explained Brad Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft in a blog post.

The new Microsoft Azure IP Advantage programme will feature:

1) Intellectual property protection with uncapped indemnification coverage that has been expanded to cover any open source technology that powers Microsoft Azure services, such as Hadoop used for Azure HD Insight.

2) Ten thousand Microsoft patents made available to customers that use Azure services for the sole purpose of enabling them to better defend themselves against patent lawsuits against their services that run on top of Azure. The patents are broadly representative of Microsoft’s overall patent portfolio.

3) A pledge to Azure customers that if Microsoft transfers patents in the future to non-practicing entities, they can never be asserted against them.

"We do not have a practice of making such transfers, but we have learned that this is an extra protection that many customers value," Smith said.

After previewing the programme, Microsoft customer Shigeki Tomoyama, President of Toyota’s Connected Company said, “With Azure IP Advantage we can operate and innovate more freely in the cloud while reducing our IP risk. Microsoft is uniquely able to provide such a comprehensive patent offering.”

"We take seriously our responsibility to make sure the cloud is used for good, and we stand with our customers to protect them against intellectual property risk. In partnership with our customers, we are committed to creating an ecosystem where developers, entrepreneurs, enterprises and customers can innovate with confidence," Smith commented.

Interested?

Watch the video introducing Microsoft Azure IP Advantage

posted from Bloggeroid