For $12.5B, Google Gets Motorola’s 17K Patents

Tuesday, 16 August 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Google had its eyes trained on Apple when it announced its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility yesterday, the largest acquisition in its 13-year history. The purchase allows Google to build up its mobile offerings and compete with Apple. But there’s a more immediate benefit to the deal says the LA Times: “ownership of more than 17,000 Motorola patents for mobile technology.” Access to the patents would allow Google to defend themselves against several lawsuits initiated by their rivals, which claim that the Android operating system violates several long-standing patents. As one analyst put it: “The reason why Google bought Motorola is, first and foremost, about the patents, they are getting hammered by everyone suing them, and they didn’t have much of a defense.”

San Jose Mercury News columnist Patrick May says customers will reap the benefits now that Google has the capabilities to manufacture both the hardware and the software for their Android devices. Part of the reason Apple devices work so seamlessly, says May, is that the hardware and software is developed together. He says by next year, Android phones will likely look a lot more like what Apple produces.