Google and Microsoft agree to end patent feud over smartphones and gaming systems

After a multi-year conflict in the courtroom, Google and Microsoft have finally agreed to end their big patent feud. No financial terms were disclosed, though the two companies have agreed to drop roughly 20 lawsuits in the United States and Germany.

The two companies have been in dispute since 2010, when Google’s former Motorola Mobility unit began demanding royalties on Microsoft’s Xbox gaming system. At the same time, Microsoft had sought to prevent Motorola’s mobile phones from using certain features that have been patented by Microsoft.

As GeekWire reports, here is the joint statement released by Google and Microsoft earlier this morning:

Microsoft and Google are pleased to announce an agreement on patent issues. As part of the agreement, the companies will dismiss all pending patent infringement litigation between them, including cases related to Motorola Mobility. Separately, Google and Microsoft have agreed to collaborate on certain patent matters and anticipate working together in other areas in the future to benefit our customers.

Now the two companies have agreed to drop all patent litigations in question, and work together in areas that would more greatly benefit their customers. One way the companies are doing so is by focusing on the newly-formed Alliance for Open Media, of which both Google and Microsoft are members. The alliance, which is setting out to develop a royalty-free video compression technology for the web, includes key players in the tech world like Amazon, Cisco, Intel, Netflix, Google, Microsoft and more.