MS expands tech licensing program

SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp. said it will expand its technology licensing program to make it easier for other companies and academic institutions to use its intellectual properties for other products and research.

Microsoft said the new program, which will initially offer licenses for its ClearType text displaying technology and its File Allocation Table (FAT) file system, will be broadly available under "fair and reasonable terms" for any enterprise seeking to pay for the rights to use the technologies in their own products. Approved academic institutions will be able to license the technologies royalty-free, Microsoft said.

Previously, Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, had made its intellectual property available to select companies on a case-by-case basis, said Marshall Phelps, Microsoft's deputy general counsel.

"First, it is important to note that we don't see this as being a material move for Microsoft from a revenue perspective," Phelps said. "Customers and the broader industry have asked us for increased access and transparency to our growing IP portfolio."

Microsoft, which will spend as much as $6.9 billion this year on research and development, said that it will also make its other technology available.

The FAT file system, for example, is set to be used by Lexar Media for creating memory storage cards and media. Microsoft also has a more advanced file system called NTFS and is developing a new file system for the next major overhaul of Windows, its flagship computer operating system.

Reuters