[Tyrannosaurs]

Are you seriously suggesting that anyone in their right mind would pay a patent license without knowing the patents that they're supposed to be infringing?

How many millions of dollars do you think major multinationals tend to hand over on faith without seeing some sort of evidence and paperwork?

MS may create FUD by talking about patent infringements in general terms but the minute you ask someone for money you need to make your case.

[lukeschlather]

Not at all. Even if the patents are totally invalid or irrelevant, it would take years of multi-million(billion?) dollar patent litigation to prove it. Everyone loses. This way Samsung gets to ship Windows Phones, Android phones, and no one has to deal with a protracted and expensive (probably more expensive than this license) legal battle.

[Tyrannosaurs]

It wouldn't make millions of dollars to actually get the patent details, they'd need to be in the first court filing against you which you could see without even having a lawyer.

If the judge then found out that they'd not revealed the patent details to you before coming to court, he'd almost certainly kick the thing out for being frivolous (you're obliged to try to settle before coming to court and that would include actually telling someone what they'd done wrong).

[bostonpete]

I think he meant that they don't reveal that information to the public.

[Tyrannosaurs]

The minute they go into court filings they're public and there would be nothing to stop someone like Amazon publishing or leaking them (you can't bring a case against someone on the condition they don't talk about it).