Today we are pleased to announce that Fuji Xerox, a leading provider of document managing systems, and Microsoft have signed a broad patent cross-licensing agreement. It builds on our 2007 cross-licensing agreement, and offers expanded patent coverage to both companies. This news follows our announcement on Monday of a similar licensing collaboration deal with Melco Holdings.
Our initial agreements with Fuji Xerox and Melco Holdings were signed in 2007 and 2009, respectively, and provided opportunities for technology collaboration and accelerated product development. Through the years, new products, services and technologies emerged, demonstrating how relationships forged through patent licensing provide enduring value and accelerate the pace of innovation. These agreements illustrate the significance of our patent system – an exceptionally efficient framework for enabling technology sharing, and incentivizing innovation.
While patents, by definition, involve a right to exclude, Microsoft thinks about it differently. We began our patent licensing program with a goal of inclusion. Our approach, as demonstrated by the more than 1,000 licensing agreements signed to date over the past 10 years, has been to extend rights to our technology to all comers. Our licensing partners have, in turn, built upon those technologies and delivered enhanced products to their customers.
Research confirms our experience – licensing of technologies contributes to the discovery and development of new synergies between innovative companies. The IT ecosystem, and as an extension consumers themselves, benefits from a system that encourages and enables collaboration.
We are proud to announce our expanded IP partnerships with both Fuji Xerox and Melco. These deals advance our mutual business goals and recognize the value of each other’s creations in a way that is fair. We look forward to future opportunities between our companies and ways to further engage as key industry contributors to the innovation economy.