Intellectual Property Magazine
Google boosts IP portfolio with IBM patents
United States
Sophie Roberts - Staff Writer
Google has confirmed that it has recently purchased over 1000 technology patents from International Business Machines (IBM), but did not disclose whether or not this is a response to the number of lawsuits the search engine giant is currently facing.
"Like many tech companies, at times we'll acquire patents that are relevant to our business," a Google spokesman said in a statement.
The patents involve the "fabrication and architecture of memory and microprocessing chips," computer architecture including servers and routers and online search engines, among other things. The amount Google paid remains undisclosed.
Google's Android OS has been targeted directly and indirectly in a number of legal complaints by other mobile technology giants, including Apple, which is currently involved in vicious lawsuits against HTC and Samsung, two of the largest manufactures of Android phones.
In a more direct instance, Google is embroiled in a multi-billion lawsuit brought on by Oracle which is accusing Google of violating its Java programming patents which are found in Android OS.
IP commentators have opined that the pressure emanating from these lawsuits is increasing Google's need for IP to defend the company against litigation.
IP analyst, Florian Mueller, commented that, "If those patents were unencumbered by existing license agreements, Google could use them in a variety of ways.
He continued in his blog, "In the near term, one of the most obvious ways to put them to use would be to pick some that may read on important Oracle products and propose to Oracle a cross-licence that would resolve the Android IP dispute on more favourable terms than Google could negotiate without such leverage."
Google's general counsel, Kent Walker, recently argued in an interview that patent-infringement litigation was stifling innovation and being used by companies that want to "block competing products or profit from the success of a rival's new technology".
Walker suggested that Google's main recourse was to try to purchase a large number of patents for itself, as it was a younger company with a thinner patent load than many of its competitors.
Google is rumoured to be in preliminary talks about buying mobile technology developer InterDigital. This follows its failure to acquire Nortel Network's patent portfolio, which was bought by a consortium of technology giants for a cool $4.5 billion.