BMW, Mercedez-Benz, and Volkswagen have signed a ‘strategic alliance’ with fellow German giant Thyssenkrupp, to jointly take licenses for cellular patents. The four firms will create an “Automotive Licensing Negotiation Group,” which (most unusually) will then attempt to secure more favorable terms for its members than they may hope to secure by themselves. This approach, if successful, could easily spread to other sectors of the wider technology industry. Existing contractual agreements are unlikely to be affected, but if the group can prove to the world it can secure more favorable terms, the landscape could be severely disrupted. However, European political bureaucracy must be considered, as it is still very unclear how this German decision can or will be adopted among…