Now that Google owns a handset maker, will the $12.5 billion deal end Motorola’s patent-infringement complaints against Apple? Not likely, says the Android creator.
“Those lawsuits will continue and will be managed by Motorola as they are now…” Google’s Legal Chief David C. Drummond told reporters. Although he wouldn’t say more about the lawsuits, the Google executive must receive comfort from owning nearly 25,000 patents. The new cache of intellectual property puts Google “in a very good position to protect the Android ecosystem for all our partners,” Drummond said.
In October of 2010, the handset maker filed a claim with the U.S. International Trade Commission, charging Apple violated Motorola patents covering 3G, Wi-Fi and other core technologies used in many devices made by the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant. A month later, Apple went to the ITC, charging Motorola violated six multi-touch patents.
Recently, competition for control of the smartphone market has opened up a new field of battle: patents. Although Google recently decried Apple’s $5B acquisition of Nortel patents as against the competitive spirit, Monday’s acquisition of Motorola provides the Android maker with a new weapon in court.
