Summary: New statements from Microsoft's management (Andersen) serve to show that Microsoft hasn't really changed; it's just trying to sell "Azure IP Advantage", hoping that enough patent trolls with their dubious software patents will blackmail GNU/Linux users into adopting Azure for 'protection'

THIS morning we wrote four articles about the European Patent Office (EPO), but we haven't lost sight of American matters, which we typically cover in the weekend due to lack of time. Yesterday we wrote about the aggressive past (arguably patent trolling) of the new Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This past of hers has been mentioned in IPPro Patents coverage that yesterday noted "Peter was also previously vice president and general counsel of Immersion Corporation, where, among other legal roles, she led its IP portfolio."

Immersion Corporation is a patent aggressor that many out there have also dubbed "patent troll". Peter's boss/superior is another person who comes from a questionable background and was likely appointed because of nepotism. So what on Earth is going on? It's not hard to see who benefits (cui bono).

The Microsoft-friendly and Microsoft-sponsored IAM (it is also sponsored by Microsoft's patent trolls) has just quoted/paraphrased Microsoft’s patent chief Andersen as saying: "more valuable for us to essentially license our patents through Open Invention And LOT Networks than to try to license them on our own..."

What on Earth does that even mean? Can that be interpreted as Microsoft using OIN to just tax/cross-license with software patents? Remember that Microsoft staff was forbidden from commenting on it. That can only mean that Microsoft is hiding something.

Microsoft, morever, supports the terrible Director who supports patent trolls. Quoting IAM's tweet: "Andersen on PTO Director Iancu - I’m a fan, he’s doing a super job. One of things we’ve told him is importance of getting certainty back particularly post-Alice. PTO has a role to play in giving us more clarity and I think he’s taken that to heart..."

That doesn't inspire a positive view of Microsoft's 'new' policy or strategy, which also involves selling 'protection' from its patent trolls through Azure (they call it "Azure IP Advantage" [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21]). Microsoft uses OIN and LOT Networks to actively promote this racket. ⬆