Suspected PayPal Hackers Seek Deal To Stay Out Of Prison
Did A Google Earth Mistake Cause A Couple's Brutal Murder?
Google bids $900 million for Nortel's patents to protect against litigation trolls
Nortel, once one of the biggest telecoms company in the world but now in the death throes of bankruptcy, has selected Google's $900 million bid for its patent portfolio as the stalking horse bid. This doesn't mean that Google will automatically win Nortel's massive array of telecoms patents, but it does mean that Google is the preferred buyer.Google, which has a history of lobbying for patent law reform, has been the target of many patent litigation suits. Google's relative infancy means that it has a lot less patents in the vault than big-hitters like Microsoft, Oracle and IBM, and buying Nortel's portfolio of 6,000 patents could provide better protection against patent litigation in the future. It's worth noting that both Apple and RIM have showed interested in the portfolio, too.
Mashable speculates that the patents -- which are nearly all telecoms-related -- will be used to defend against Oracle's attacks on Android's use of Java. We reckon that Google is simply looking to cover its future endeavors in the world of networking. In the absence of patent law reform, and continued threats to net neutrality, owning a bunch of telecoms patents sounds like a very sensible move.
Comments
3
Subscribe to commentsglaciaApr 7th 2011 7:48PM
We desperately need patent law reform. Having "first to file" like most of the rest of the world would eliminate many lawsuits. And having a "must implement" requirement would put patent trolls out of business.
ragtagApr 7th 2011 3:46PM
@glacia Not having software patents at all, like much of the rest of the world, would also solve a lot of problems.
SilverWaveApr 6th 2011 7:23PM
Clever move by Google.
Its a technical fix to work around the patents mess.