The Dolcera Blog

Google Inc., the Internet giant, has signed a $12.5 billion agreement to acquire Motorola Mobility, the legendary mobile phone and set-top box manufacturer. As per the agreement, Google will pay $40 per share in cash, which was a 63% premium to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on August 12, 2011.

But what is impressive about the deal is the purpose behind it. After all, Google generates its revenue from searches i.e. it auctions off search words to clients that want to advertise alongside the responses. On the other hand, Motorola Mobility manufactures handsets and set-top boxes that carry TV channels to homes. Interestingly, Motorola Mobility is the No.2 provider of set-top boxes after Cisco.

So why an Internet mogul be interested in acquiring a hardware company?

The key to the story is Android, Google’s OS for mobile devices. At present, Android has surpassed Apple and Nokia smart phones and already has signed deals with 39 handset manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, LG Electronics, Sony Ericsson, etc. As we can see from this, Google is not just an Internet-based company but is part of the mobile business in full swing. Although Google offers the Android OS for free to handset manufacturers, it is a cynosure when it comes to patent infringement lawsuits. Companies from the likes of Microsoft, Oracle, and Apple have filed multiple lawsuits against Android.

As a result, in a bid to strengthen its patent portfolio, Google has acquired Motorola’s 17,000 patents (Click here for information on Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio). The acquisition not only eliminates Motorola from being a potential threat in terms of filing a lawsuit but also arms Google so that it can defend itself in lawsuits as well as launch suits of its own.

In a latest turn of events, just last week HTC, the Chinese handset manufacturer, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple. As per the appeal, HTC stated that Apple was infringing nine US patents related to wireless communications and mobile phone displays. The interesting bit is that Google had assigned those patents to HTC and some of those patents it had acquired from Motorola Mobility.

The ownership pathway for the nine patents is shown below.

The first five patents were used to strengthen HTC’s Delaware suit against Apply while the other four have been used for a new lawsuit against apple.

S.No	Patent No.	Title
1	US6473006	Method and apparatus for zoomed display of characters entered from a telephone keypad
2	US6708214	Hypermedia identifier input mode for a mobile communication device
3	US6868283	Technique allowing a status bar user response on a portable device graphic user interface
4	US7289772	Technique allowing a status bar user response on a portable device graphic user interface
5	US7020849	Dynamic display for communication devices
6	US5418524	Method and apparatus for over-the-air upgrading of radio modem application software
7	US5630152	Communication protocol between master and slave device with register information sharing
8	US5630159	Method and apparatus for personal attribute selection having delay management method and apparatus for preference establishment when preferences in a donor device are unavailable
9	US5302947	Method and apparatus for loading a software program from a radio modem into an external computer

Clearly, Google is out to avenge the lawsuits against its adopted child Android and defend itself in any way.

In addition, the other side of the story is the set-top box business, the acquisition of which will facilitate Google becoming a significant supplier of Internet-borne TV content on Android-equipped mobile devices and also generate revenues from TV advertising, which is worth $70 billion.

In all, Google’s deal with Motorola Mobility is not just a defensive action against infringement lawsuits but also a smart move in terms of boosting its ad revenues from Internet-borne TV content.

Author: Charanjeet Singh

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had sued Myriad for licensing a couple of gene sequences related to breast cancer — BRCA1 and BRCA2. The judge came back today and ruled that human gene sequences in and of themselves are not patentable subject matter, and thus the patents are invalid. This case will now make its way to the CAFC (the US Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit), and then on to the Supreme Court.This could be a landmark change. Diamond v. Chakrabarty started the gene patent story, and the Myriad ruling could be a major chapter in it. The smart money is not on ACLU’s side yet, but things could change in the next year or two.With the Bilski decision due any day (could come as soon as the day after tomorrow), we are in for some interesting times in the patenting world.