"So Phelps pushed Microsoft to eliminate NAP and instead focus on cross-licensing agreements and collaboration, even with open source vendors. Microsoft, like many companies, had historically protected its intellectual property as something that only it could profit from; Phelps wanted to upend this attitude and license IP widely to others. Divisions like Microsoft Research were simply generating more patents than Microsoft itself could ever profitably use, and the collaborative agreements that patent cross-licensing allowed brought Microsoft into a web of partnerships with others. It was a far cry from the "go it alone," trust-no-one-outside-the-company days of yore."
Source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/05/making-microsoft-nicer-through-patents.ars
