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Maybe this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagSafe

Apple exclusively owns US Patent No. 7311526 ("Magnetic connector for electronic device", issued in 2007) and does not license the MagSafe connector or the patent.

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And yet Microsoft has magnetic power connectors on the Surface tablets.

Hrmm. I don't know. I was just curious and looked it up. It appears that microsoft has their own patent for a magsafe-like connector: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/14/microsoft-magnetic-patent... from http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/19/microsoft-surface-power-c...

So clearly Google needs to get their own, or license Microsoft's. :P

Microsoft having a patent on a magnetic connector of their own is unrelated to the question of whether that connector infringes Apple's patent.

Doesn't Microsoft and Apple have a cross-licensing agreement?

Not on MagSafe, no. Apple doesn't license that to anyone. Microsoft got their own patent for a different design.

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