'What the fucking fuck?!' Google buys Motorola

[JB3]

Anyone see this news today? Woke up, checked the news on my phone and my reaction was as posted in the headline. Never mind that Motorola needs an owner with deep pockets; Google is buying them for all the wrong reasons and doesn't give two shits about Motorola as a company.

Google, I fear, has forgotten what it means to be Google. They're turning into Microsoft, and you can bet your hindquarters US regulators will not look kindly on this deal in light of the multiple anti-trust investigations against the company. I would not be shocked to see Google either being forced to divest substantial properties to get this through, or to spin off the Android team itself. Either way, this won't come cheap.

 

[Corny]

i believe you missed a bit.

they bought motorola MOBILE, not the whole of motorola. google has no hardware manufacturer and is not happy with most cooperations for their android phones. motorola already makes the droid series, the best android mobiles. so that move was only logical, and motoral wouldn't sell their mobile department if they wouldn't get something out of it. this is no "hostile takeover".

 

[star-warrior]

Think of the patents, the patents!

 

[T-Rexx]

Google is buying Motorola to get access to the Motorola patent portfolio. Without that, Microsoft and Apple will destroy Android.

Patent law in the USA is so broken that everyone in the technology area now claims patent violations from everyone else. This happens routinely on the most absurd of pretenses. The sudo command in *nix, for example, is said to violate a Microsoft patent, even though the invention of sudo predates the founding of Microsoft by five years. Using the tab key to tab through a web page is a violation of another Microsoft patent. Pulling a window open diagonally with the cursor in a corner of the window is another Microsoft patent. Apple has a patent that covers any display screen responding in any way to human tough, even though such technology was in use for 20 years before Apple decided it had invented it. Sightsound.com has a patent on selling audio and video recordings over the internet. It's beyond absurd.

Motorola's patent portfolio will give Google some leverage to defend itself against this nonsense. I doubt that Google cares to be in the phone-making business. But Motorola's patent portfolio alone is worth $12.5 billion to Google.

 

[male55746]

give it time google will be a standing store one day.

 

[AussieGuy91]

I almost started a thread on this when I read it last night. I'm quite surprised about this, will it mean that google will favor moto over other companies such as htc with the rollout of android?

 

[looseliam]

Yet they couldn't cough-up $7.5bn for sun

 

[T-Rexx]

...will it mean that google will favor moto over other companies such as htc with the rollout of android?

I've been curious about this, also. You would think other Android licensees would not be pleased to have Google directly competing with them.

My suspicion is that Google will spin this as a move to protect Android licensees from patent lawsuits from Apple and Microsoft. Google can cross-license the Motorola patents with Android licensees. Then, when Apple and Microsoft sue (as they have been doing aggressively recently), the counter-suits will fly!

Motorola has almost 25,000 mobile phone patents (granted or pending), which is huge. Apple and Microsoft paid $4.5 billion for 6,000 patents from bankrupt Nortel. So, $12.5 billion for 25,000 patents may not be so expensive.

 

[QBranch]

It's important to note that they bought Motorola Mobility, not Motorola Solutions. When Motorola Inc split last year MS held on to the name, logo, etc and licensed it to MM. We'll have to see if this continues after the acquisition...

Interestingly MM also has the Cable Set-Top Box business so it will be interesting to see what if anything Google chooses to do with it.

 

[JB3]

i believe you missed a bit.

they bought motorola MOBILE, not the whole of motorola. google has no hardware manufacturer and is not happy with most cooperations for their android phones. motorola already makes the droid series, the best android mobiles. so that move was only logical, and motoral wouldn't sell their mobile department if they wouldn't get something out of it. this is no "hostile takeover".

Sorry. In my circles whenever anyone refers to Motorola, its to the part that actually makes consumer products. Moto Solutions doesn't.

 

[JB3]

I've been curious about this, also. You would think other Android licensees would not be pleased to have Google directly competing with them.

My suspicion is that Google will spin this as a move to protect Android licensees from patent lawsuits from Apple and Microsoft. Google can cross-license the Motorola patents with Android licensees. Then, when Apple and Microsoft sue (as they have been doing aggressively recently), the counter-suits will fly!

Motorola has almost 25,000 mobile phone patents (granted or pending), which is huge. Apple and Microsoft paid $4.5 billion for 6,000 patents from bankrupt Nortel. So, $12.5 billion for 25,000 patents may not be so expensive.

Here's the problem though: Purchasing patents does not protect them from the cases already in the courts and before the ITC. (after all, Google and its vendors cannot say 'We infringed then, but we have patents now to protect us' because they would still have infringed on them) They would only protect them from future cases.

There are several high-profile lawsuits that have already been filed that cut to the very core of Android's functions, and the patents would provide no protection whatsoever against those suits. Theoretically, parts of Android might be forced to change despite new ownership of these patents.

That's why I find this whole thing so confusing. These patents do not provide any protection to the suits currently pending, all of which very seriously attack Android. If anything, this opens Google up to even MORE regulatory scrutiny, and could end up backfiring on them.

 

[T-Rexx]

Here's the problem though: Purchasing patents does not protect them from the cases already in the courts and before the ITC. (after all, Google and its vendors cannot say 'We infringed then, but we have patents now to protect us' because they would still have infringed on them) They would only protect them from future cases.

Not true. "Drop your suit now, or we will sue you for infringement of our patents." That's how it works. And if Apple and Microsoft refuse to cooperate, they will lose to the counter-suits the equivalent of everything they gained with their initial lawsuits. Suing Android now becomes a losing prospect for them.

And as for "future cases," it's safe to say now that there aren't gonna be many of those.

There are several high-profile lawsuits that have already been filed that cut to the very core of Android's functions, and the patents would provide no protection whatsoever against those suits. Theoretically, parts of Android might be forced to change despite new ownership of these patents.

iPhone and Windows Phone 7 violate all sorts of Motorola patents that cut to the very core of iOS and WP7. Motorola has been making wireless communications equipment since 1930, and invented the cell phone. If Apple and Microsoft refuse to cooperate and cross-license, they will be forced to change fundamental parts of their phones and operating systems, with potentially devastating consequences to their customers.

That's why I find this whole thing so confusing. These patents do not provide any protection to the suits currently pending, all of which very seriously attack Android. If anything, this opens Google up to even MORE regulatory scrutiny, and could end up backfiring on them.

The Motorola acquisition is a game changer. It is now much, much more difficult for Apple and Microsoft to claim that Android infringes their patents.

Those two boys are going to have to learn to live with a little competition, for a change.

 

[Corny]

Sorry. In my circles whenever anyone refers to Motorola, its to the part that actually makes consumer products. Moto Solutions doesn't.

which part? motorola does ALL kinds of electronic stuff. not just mobile phones. google still just bought the mobile branch.

 

[QBranch]

Technically they are two independent, publicly traded companies. MM got the phones and the cable boxes while Mot Solutions got everything else.

http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/motorola-completes-split-now-two-separate-companies-2011015/

 

[JB3]

which part? motorola does ALL kinds of electronic stuff. not just mobile phones. google still just bought the mobile branch.

Motorola Mobility is the part that makes consumer products. Motorola solutions doesn't. Therefore, when someone refers to Motorola, they're usually referring to the consumer-facing side.

 

[JB3]

Not true. "Drop your suit now, or we will sue you for infringement of our patents." That's how it works. And if Apple and Microsoft refuse to cooperate, they will lose to the counter-suits the equivalent of everything they gained with their initial lawsuits. Suing Android now becomes a losing prospect for them.

And as for "future cases," it's safe to say now that there aren't gonna be many of those.

And you know what would happen? The judge would laugh them out of court. Cases dealing with acquired patents as these are are incredibly difficult to carry out, ESPECIALLY if the prior party has not made any action to protect them previously. Courts do not look kindly on those types of actions. (Patent trolling would be putting it kindly)

So it will leave them in a situation exactly where they are now; with major portions of Android vulnerable to attacks by both Microsoft and Apple. And, thanks to Microsoft's new partnership with Nokia, I would not be surprised to see Nokia vast patent library being used against Motorola and Google. If anything, this move by Google could make things appreciably worse.

iPhone and Windows Phone 7 violate all sorts of Motorola patents that cut to the very core of iOS and WP7. Motorola has been making wireless communications equipment since 1930, and invented the cell phone. If Apple and Microsoft refuse to cooperate and cross-license, they will be forced to change fundamental parts of their phones and operating systems, with potentially devastating consequences to their customers.

That must be why Microsoft was in negotiations with motorola for Moto to license all of the patents that they were infringing upon, and Moto was going along willingly, eh? If those patents really 'cut to the very core of iOS and WP7' Motorola would have already taken action. The fact that they haven't speaks volumes to the lack of strength they believe they have in terms of making claims against Apple and Microsoft. That, and they've already licensed any patents that they could sue over.

Frankly, you overstate the strength of motorola's patents, and none among the tech community thinks that Motorola's patents will protect android any more than what Google already has. Anything that could 'devastate' iOS or WP7 has already been licensed; Google stands to lose far more thanks to the patents that Apple and Microsoft own dealing with touchscreen handsets. Sorry, but this purchase provides no more protection for Android than Google already has. (and that's coming from someone that will be sticking with Android for the foreseeable future)

The Motorola acquisition is a game changer. It is now much, much more difficult for Apple and Microsoft to claim that Android infringes their patents.

Those two boys are going to have to learn to live with a little competition, for a change.

Eh. Its not really a game changer. It doesn't change much of anything actually. You don't understand the situation if you think that this makes it difficult to claim that Android infringes on their patents; the infringement doesn't change with the purchase. Regardless of the patents Google might own in the future, that doesn't invalidate any claims of infringement.

 

[T-Rexx]

And you know what would happen? The judge would laugh them out of court. Cases dealing with acquired patents as these are are incredibly difficult to carry out, ESPECIALLY if the prior party has not made any action to protect them previously. Courts do not look kindly on those types of actions. (Patent trolling would be putting it kindly)

If acquired patents are so worthless, I wonder why Microsoft and Apple just paid $4.5 billion to acquire just 6,000 patents from bankrupt Nortel?

That's $750,000 per patent. For something you claim is almost worthless.

 

[T-Rexx]

Perhaps it's worth noting also that Microsoft and Apple recently paid $450 million to buy just 882 Novell patents.

That's a paltry $510,204 per patent.

These two companies are paying an awful lot of money to buy up other people's patents.