Microsoft has been pretty busy signing up patent deals with OEMs running on the Android platform.  And you’d think that this would make Microsoft content enough, as these OEMs also pay royalties to Microsoft for using their patents.

According to Horacio Gutiérrez, Microsoft’s deputy general counsel in charge of the company’s intellectual property group, the reason behind Microsoft’s move against Android is that they keep seeing Android make money out of technology that they invented.  And in Silicon Valley where intellectual property is as vital as the air you breathe, patent deals is Microsoft’s best alternative compared to court cases.

According to Gutierrez, “There are a number of technologies that have to do with really critical features that make smart phones what they are today. For example, the ability to synchronize the content that you have in your phone with the information in the server of your company or in your computer at home.”

“But then there are all these other features that just make the phone much more efficient, things that are embedded deeply in the operating system. Microsoft has invested for decades more money than anyone else in research and development directed toward the efficiency of operating systems. These devices have moved from having a rudimentary phone system to being a full-fledged computer, with a sophisticated, modern operating system.”

“In doing that, they have really stood on the shoulder of companies like Microsoft who made all these billions of dollars in investments.”

The act of patenting software was also questioned as some deem the technology easily leads to the same result, but Gutierrez argued that “it’s not the idea or the final outcome that is patentable; it’s the particular way in which the outcome is brought about.  So two different means of getting to the same end would be independently patentable.” He also added that “the question of whether software should be patentable is, in a sense, the same as asking whether a significant part of the technological innovation happening nowadays should receive patent protection.”

Android’s hurdles in globalization

Despite legal woes from competitors like Microsoft, Android’s facing some hurdles far beyond Silicon Valley.  As Android devices make their way across the globe, they face trouble in China as the Android Market is not available so local network carriers provide app stores for Android smartphones.  Google hasn’t said anything regarding when the Android Marketplace will be available in China.

Founder and managing partner of Innovation Works, Wang Hua, stated that Google shouldn’t focus on bringing Android Market to China, but the company should focus on launching a standard for third-party application stores.

Apple iOS and the Android OS are the top operating systems on smartphones and tablets but Canonical, the company responsible for Ubuntu Linux, announced that they will be entering the OS arena as well.  They plan on putting their OS not only in smartphones and tablets but also in Smart TVs.

Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, told ZDNet their plans for the Ubuntu OS, “This is a natural expansion of our idea as Ubuntu as Linux for human beings. As people have moved from desktop to new form factors for computing, it’s important for us to reach out to out community on these platforms. So, we’ll embrace the challenge of how to use Ubuntu on smartphones, tablets and smart-screens.”