Microsoft To Pick Up Legal Defense Tab For Partners
By Nathan Weinberg
Expert Author
Article Date: 2006-02-10
Microsoft has announced it will expand its protections for device makers who use Windows in embedded products.
In the future, if a device maker who is a Microsoft partner is sued over intellectual property rights related to the use of Microsoft code, Microsoft will pay their entire defense legal bill.
This move removes caps previously set based on the amount of business a company did. The program will also be expanded to all countries, including China and Japan. This follows a change last June that gave the same blanket reimbursement to those PC makers sued over their use of Windows software.
As rightly pointed out in the InformationWeek article by MS VP of business development for IP, this is an offer Linux developers can never expect from whomever they get their operating system from.
According to Microsoft's Kaefer, stricter requirements for companies to disclose risks related to their intellectual property portfolios under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has contributed to CIOs' heightened attention to managing intellectual property. Microsoft's expanded indemnity for device makers also positions Windows more favorably in the market against Linux and other embedded operating systems, Kaefer says.
(via Slashdot)
About the Author:
Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.
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