The Android Express has taken Google and a number of manufacturers on a dizzying ride to the top of the smartphone market, but with Android’s patent strength increasingly under fire and companies lining up for their share of licensing fees and Oracle has now reportedly stepped up a similar campaign and is approaching Android manufacturers with an offer to join an early adopters program that would have them pay $15 to $20 a handset. With damages potentially tripling because of Google’s wilful infringement and if Oracle was success in suing the search giant, Google would also need to negotiate a licensing deal if it intended to use the Dalvik-based system for its application framework…………
Oracle has directly asked handset makers, which currently don’t pay anything to use the Google operating system for smartphones, to pay $15 to $20 a handset to license the technology for which the company claims it owns patents, said Deutsche Bank analyst Jonathan Goldberg in an article by IDG New Service on Network World. So far, none of the companies that have been approached to license the technology have agreed to do so, Goldberg told CNET. Goldberg said Oracle asked various handset makers to join an early adopters program in which they would agree to license the technology from Oracle. Oracle filed a lawsuit last August against Google claiming that the company is infringing on Java copyrights and patents by using code related to the programing language used in the Android mobile operating system. Oracle acquired the patents when it bought Sun Microsystems in 2010. Oracle is asking for damages of $2.6 billion and is seeking an injunction. Neither Google nor Oracle have commented on the reported news that Oracle has approached handset makers. If the news is accurate, experts say Oracle may be approaching device makers in the hopes they will strike early deals and thus help its patent case. Device makers may be tempted to strike an early deal to avoid paying heftier fees in the future, if Oracle’s lawsuit is successful. The latest news suggests that Oracle is also looking to collect money from companies using the Android software just as other software licensing companies do. For example, Microsoft licenses its Windows Mobile 7 software to hardware makers. One of the benefits of the Google platform is that the Android software has been free. And it’s open nature has allowed hardware partners to add customization to the software to differentiate their products.
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