Even if it doesn't sell any Android products, Microsoft is a company that makes billions of dollars every year in royalties, since it owns many of the patents that manufacturers need to launch smartphones, tablets, and other devices that run Android.
The list of patents owned by Microsoft had never been disclosed, but the Chinese government recently decided to make it available to the public, for no apparent reason.
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has published a list of more than 300 patents owned by Microsoft that have been included in Redmond's acquisition of Nokia.
According to a report by ArsTechnica, which uncovered data published on the English version of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's website, 73 of these patents are said to be standard-essential for the manufacture of smartphones.
China has revealed 127 additional patents that are said to belong to multiple Android devices, as well as various other patents offered on other technologies.
