Patent analyst accused of anti-Google stance funded by Microsoft

Florian Mueller, who writes at FOSS Patents and often takes a harsh stance on Google in covering patent related litigation, has revealed that he’s being funded by Microsoft to create a new study related to “fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory licensing obligations”.

While mentioning his usually “anti-Google stance”, Google’s Matt Cutts points out on Google+ that Mueller is a patent analyst and “not a lawyer”, and also links to a post discussing the study.

Mueller explains:

“Microsoft has commissioned this study. I will present my findings next year in a published report. The industry at large relies and depends on FRAND commitments. So does Microsoft, which owns a significant number of standards-essential patents but licenses many more of them from other right holders. Given the strength of Microsoft’s patent portfolio and the large scale of its inbound and outbound licensing activities, I am proud that they are interested in my analysis of, and perspective on, the related issues.”