

The company produced $48.5 billion in global sales in 2006. LG Enterprises comprises four business units: Mobile Communications, Digital Appliance, Digital Display, and Digital Media. In addition, LG will be making ongoing payments to Microsoft to cover Microsoft patents as they relate to Linux-based embedded devices that LG produces. Microsoft made a similar "net balancing" payment as part of its deal with Novell that, according to that contract, reflected "the larger applicable volume of Microsoft's product shipments" versus that of Novell's products. Microsoft and LG did not release financial terms of the deal but said in a press release that Microsoft would make a "net balancing" payment to LG and MicroConnect for patents related to operating systems and computer systems.

In terms of the "customer covenant" clause in those deals, Kaefer said, "The covenants are structured very similarly." Both covered general access to intellectual property contained in patent portfolios and included protection for customers using Linux-based software. Those deals were signed this year in April and March, respectively. "The open source elements of the deal do utilize a covenant model similar to the Xandros and Novell deals, but this deal is most similar to recent agreements with Samsung and Fuji Xerox." "This agreement is focused only on exchange of patent rights," said David Kaefer, general manager of IP licensing at Microsoft.
#Lg cdma software license
LG is a manufacturer of CDMA, GSM, and 3G handsets IP phones plasma TVs optical storage products PDAs notebook computers DVD players and home theater systems, among other electronic products.Īs in similar deals with Xandros (announced earlier this week), Novell, Samsung, and Fuji Xerox, Microsoft did not detail just what patents LG was licensing, and LG did not say if its Linux-based devices violated any Microsoft patents.Īs part of the deal, Microsoft will have access to LG patents that cover computer architecture utilized in game consoles and other products and will license other LG patents that are owned by system integrator MicroConnect Group, which is based in Manchester, England.
