Microsoft’s corporate shift towards more collaborative efforts is extending further into the wearables category with a new patent licensing agreement with Olio. Olio is a high-end San Francisco-based wristwatch maker that aims to blend tradition watches with custom technology to help manage user’s everyday life.
According to Co-founders Steven Jacobs, Evan Wilson and AJ Cooper, “The company combines high-end materials with proprietary hardware and software to create finely crafted connected timepieces for the busy modern lifestyle.”
As of January 25, 2016, watch maker Olio and Microsoft have come to a patent agreement through Microsoft’s IP licensing program. According to the recent press release, the agreement is a “mutually beneficial and collaborative” effort that will involve “covering wearables.” Based on the limited information given in the press release and announcement from Microsoft, it is unclear what specific information or technologies the two companies have agreed to share.
Microsoft’s IP licensing program has in recent times helped build bridges over troubled legal waters and enabled a relatively civil end to over 1,200 licensing agreements for the company.
Even though most Olio wrist pieces are only compatible with iPhones and Android devices, it seems apparent that some portion of its technology is or has been Microsoft related. One would like to think that a legal relationship could lead to better interoperability with Microsoft’s Windows 10 MObile platform, but of course that’s mere speculation at this point.
