Microsoft has launched a ‘Patent Tracker’ tool that provides a list of all of the patents the company owns. Not only that, Microsoft is urging all companies to list their patents too.

Brad Smith (General counsel and executive vice president, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft): We urge other companies to join us in making available information about which patents they own.

Microsoft says it took this step from the belief that all stakeholders of the U.S. patent system – private companies, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Congress and the courts – share responsibility for taking steps to improve its operation.   

By sharing their patents lists, Microsoft says, other companies can help increase transparency, facilitate licensing, and help ensure that the patent system promotes and encourages innovation.

Through the Microsoft Patent Tracker, users can obtain Microsoft’s patent list as either an online list or a CSV file.

[Image courtesy: Microsoft]