In the past few weeks, the tech world has been shadowed by a bunch of lawsuits filed by all of the big names. Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, and Google, all seem to be preparing for an epic showdown in the court room.
Two weeks ago though, Google made the huge announcement that they would be purchasing Motorola Mobility for the tune of $12.5 billion. The reason behind the purchase was quite obvious, in that Google needed the 17,000 patents that Moto held (7,500 additional still pending), to protect their beloved Android OS from other sue happy corporations. It is now making light, that 18 in particular of some 17,000 patents may be needed to secure the future of Android against other mobile operating systems. So of those 24,500 patents, it the battle for Android could come down to a select few. As in the wise words of Bart Simpson, “Ay caramba!”
This quote from patent lawyer David Mixon was put on record over at Phandroid:
One patent from 2001 disables a “touch sensitive” sensor when a smartphone is near a user’s head to prevent inadvertent hang-ups or dialing. Another from 1994 aims to increase data storage, while a third enables users to control when a global positioning system sends their location data over a network.
At the start of 2011, Google was the holder of just over 1,000 patents of their own, so adding Moto’s 17,000+ should definitely broaden their chances of crushing any lawsuits aimed at them. It is still anyone’s guess as to when this will all shake out, but this battle is far from over.
What is everyone’s views on all of the legal news? Getting tiresome? Maybe we can get #TeamGoog trending on Twitter?
This post was last modified on August 22, 2011 3:38 pm