An executive at Google Inc.'s
GOOG +0.07%
Motorola Mobility
unit said it is trying to propose new patent licensing terms for Microsoft Corp.,
MSFT -1.10%
as the cellphone maker remains locked in legal battles with both the software giant and Silicon Valley gadget maker Apple Inc.
AAPL -4.51%
While more than 50 companies have worked out licensing agreements with the firm over its intellectual property, Motorola Vice President of Intellectual Property Kirk Dailey said Microsoft and Apple "are outliers, in that they don't want to pay" for licenses.
Both "need to show that they're willing to be reasonable," Mr. Dailey said, adding, "Motorola spent tens of billions of dollars inventing these technologies, and effectively invented the cellphone industry."
Motorola, which was recently acquired by Mountain View, Calif., Internet search giant Google, has been waging legal battles with Apple and Microsoft over Motorola's so-called standards-essential patents, which are important for the broader wireless industry and are generally offered by Motorola at a 2.25% royalty rate.
Mr. Dailey said Motorola has sought to tailor a more palatable royalty rate for Microsoft, by offering the software giant a rate of 50 cents per product built on Microsoft's Windows operating system software, and 33 cents per smartphone using Microsoft's ActiveSync technology.
But Microsoft deputy general counsel for intellectual property Horacio Gutierrez said in a statement that the new proposed licensing rates are still exorbitant.
"While we welcome any good faith settlement effort, it's hard to apply that label to a demand that Microsoft pay royalties to Google far in excess of market rates, that refuses to license all the Microsoft patents infringed by Motorola, and that is promptly leaked to the press," he said.
Mr. Gutierrez added that Motorola's efforts come at a time when regulators including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission are starting to pay close attention to antitrust issues associated with the licensing of standards-essential patents, and appear "to be little more than an effort to change the subject."
A spokeswoman for Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., declined to comment.
While Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., and Apple have long respective histories in the personal computer industry, they are each seeking out more territory in the wireless business as computers and mobile devices merge.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said during a recent appearance at a technology conference that efforts by companies to win injunctions using their standards-essential patents in lawsuits amount to an abuse of intellectual property, and are "fundamentally wrong."
Mr. Dailey said injunctions are "an extreme remedy," but sometimes necessary to pursue when licensing negotiations bog down.
While more than 50 companies have worked out licensing agreements with the firm over its intellectual property, Motorola Vice President of Intellectual Property Kirk Dailey said Microsoft and Apple "are outliers, in that they don't want to pay" for licenses.
Both "need to show that they're willing to be reasonable," Mr. Dailey said, adding, "Motorola spent tens of billions of dollars inventing these technologies, and effectively invented the cellphone industry."
Motorola, which was recently acquired by Mountain View, Calif., Internet search giant Google, has been waging legal battles with Apple and Microsoft over Motorola's so-called standards-essential patents, which are important for the broader wireless industry and are generally offered by Motorola at a 2.25% royalty rate.
Mr. Dailey said Motorola has sought to tailor a more palatable royalty rate for Microsoft, by offering the software giant a rate of 50 cents per product built on Microsoft's Windows operating system software, and 33 cents per smartphone using Microsoft's ActiveSync technology.
But Microsoft deputy general counsel for intellectual property Horacio Gutierrez said in a statement that the new proposed licensing rates are still exorbitant.
"While we welcome any good faith settlement effort, it's hard to apply that label to a demand that Microsoft pay royalties to Google far in excess of market rates, that refuses to license all the Microsoft patents infringed by Motorola, and that is promptly leaked to the press," he said.
Mr. Gutierrez added that Motorola's efforts come at a time when regulators including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission are starting to pay close attention to antitrust issues associated with the licensing of standards-essential patents, and appear "to be little more than an effort to change the subject."
A spokeswoman for Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., declined to comment.
While Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., and Apple have long respective histories in the personal computer industry, they are each seeking out more territory in the wireless business as computers and mobile devices merge.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said during a recent appearance at a technology conference that efforts by companies to win injunctions using their standards-essential patents in lawsuits amount to an abuse of intellectual property, and are "fundamentally wrong."
Mr. Dailey said injunctions are "an extreme remedy," but sometimes necessary to pursue when licensing negotiations bog down.
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