It's been confirmed by Chinese telecoms infrastructure and handset company Huawei that Microsoft has approached it demanding royalty payments over its use of Android software.

The American company claims that patents are being infringed by hardware implications and that "negotiations are in progress."

Self-defence

"Yes, Microsoft has come to us," chief marketing officer for Huawei Devices Victor Xu told The Guardian.

"We always respect the intellectual property of companies. But we have 65,000 patents worldwide too. We have enough to protect our interests. We are a very important stakeholder in Android."

Huawei would represent another victim of Microsoft's forceful stance on patent infringement, joining at least 11 others. It's thought that the Redmond-based company currently has deals with over 55 percent of the Android ODM market by revenue, and 53 percent of Android OEMs by units shipped.

Companies included are Samsung, HTC, Compal Electronics (the umbrella for Dell, HP and Toshiba), Quanta Computer, Wistron, General Dynamics Itronix, Velocity Micro, Onkyo, Acer, and Viewsonic.

[source: The Guardian]