Redmond (WA) - Microsoft officials are clarifying statements made regarding the number of patents supposedly violated by open source operating systems.  Recently company officials have said that 235 of Microsoft’s patents are being potentially breached by operating systems such as Linux.  Now Microsoft’s General Manager of Platform Strategy Bill Hilf says the company doesn’t have any plans on litigation.

Hilf told InfoWorld that the company’s strategy has always been to “license and not litigate”.  He added that Microsoft has “no plans to litigate”, but cautiously added, “You can never say we’ll never do anything in the future.”

On May 14th, Fortune published an interview with Microsoft executives including General Counsel Brad Smith and licensing chief Haracio Gutierrez.  Both believe that open source software infringes on at least 235 patents.