Beginning October 1, Microsoft Azure IP Advantage will be available in China, ensuring that Azure customers there can enjoy the same strong intellectual property (IP) protection benefits as those in the rest of the world.
“We have had a tremendous response to the program since we launched it last February,” writes Erich Andersen, corporate vice president and chief IP counsel for Microsoft Intellectual Property. “Customers recognize that uncapped indemnification coverage, including for open source software that powers Azure experiences, access to 10,000 Microsoft patents, and the springing license right are valuable benefits that help them manage IP risk.”
The benefit of Azure IP Advantage is clear: A recent study by IPlytics shows that patent assertion entities have increased their stockpile of cloud computing patents by 130 percent since 2011, Andersen writes. “Worse, cloud-related patent litigation in the U.S. has grown by 700 percent since 2012. We can see these trends taking hold in China as well where patent litigation has increased 158 percent between 2011 and 2016. Patent filings in China have surpassed the U.S. since 2015.”
To learn more, visit the Microsoft Azure Blog.
