Google is launching a ‘patent peace’ project called Pax, in which members are called upon to grant each other royalty-free patent licenses covering Android and Google Applications on qualified devices.
So far, its members comprise a group of nine: LG, Samsung, Foxconn, HMD Global, HTC, Coolpad, BQ, Allview and Google itself. Together, the members own more than 230,000 patents worldwide. Absent from the list of current Pax members include companies such as Acer, Asus, Huawei, Lenovo (Motorola), Sony and ZTE.
“In the world of intellectual property, patent peace often coincides with innovation and healthy competition that benefit consumers,” states the company in a blog post, adding later: “This community-driven clearinghouse [of patent licenses], developed together with our Android partners, ensures that innovation and consumer choice—not patent threats—will continue to be key drivers of our Android ecosystem.”
Pax is free to join and open to anyone, Google notes, and it encourages companies around the world — large and small — to join in the cause. The Android ecosystem, it notes, has grown to include more than 400 partner manufacturers and 500 carriers who have produced more than 4,000 major devices in the last year with 1.6 billion active users.
Previous to Pax, Google’s other efforts in the realm of patent peace include the LOT Network and the Open Patent Non-assertion Pledge, and it is also a participating member in initiatives such as the Open Invention Network and IP3 run by Allied Security Trust.
Source: Google
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