Google and Microsoft have been fighting it out in court for as long as we can remember, but this week the two tech giants finally came to an agreement. The companies announced in a joint statement that they\u2019re putting an end to five years of litigation and 20 different lawsuits.<\/p>\n
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The two firms also agreed to share some patents and work together on new products as part of the deal.\u00a0\u201cGoogle and Microsoft\u00a0have agreed to collaborate on certain patent matters\u00a0and anticipate working together in other areas in the future to benefit our customers,\u201d the companies note.<\/p>\n
The dispute dates back to 2010, when Microsoft claimed that\u00a0Android devices were\u00a0using its\u00a0patented technology and features without paying. Motorola, which Google owned at the time, was also pushing for royalty payments over the Xbox console\u2019s video playback feature.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, it looks like that\u2019s all been resolved, and the two companies can hopefully focus on actually working together in the future. We\u2019ve recently\u00a0seen Microsoft team up with its long-time rival Apple, and we\u2019re excited to see what similar collaboration with Google will yield.<\/p>\n