There are a lot of lawyers in the world, and in order to support their families, they must work. This means that lawsuits are essential for the overall economy; sad but true. Lately, it seems like a lot of tech companies are suing each other over patents, and quite frankly, it is tiring. I am sure some lawsuits over patents are legit, but many seem to be patent-troll nonsense.
Well, to the possible dismay of the lawyers for Verizon and Google, there may not be any legal disputes over patents between the companies for a while. Why? The two giants have signed a patent license agreement for various products and technologies. Which products and technologies, however, are not yet revealed.
"Verizon has long championed patent reforms and industry actions that promote innovation. We look forward to striking similar deals with other high-tech companies also concerned with the innovation tax that patent trolls often collect", says Verizon General Counsel Randal Milch.
Kirk Dailey, Head of Patent Transactions at Google explains, "this cross license allows both companies to focus on delivering great products and services to consumers around the world. We're pleased to enter into this agreement with an industry leader like Verizon, and we welcome discussions with any company interested in a similar arrangement".
This is great news, as fighting and lawsuits between companies can use up valuable resources that would be better focused on innovation and products. Of course, there are probably some lawyers out there crying at the potential loss of financial gain that such legal battles can produce. No worries though, I am sure there will be plenty of other patent litigation to go around.
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