Google has acquired more IBM patents, adding more than 200 to approximately 2,000 patents it had previously bought from IBM.
The move, first reported
by the blog SEO by the Sea, was confirmed by a Google spokesman who
didn't immediately comment on why the company is interested in these
particular patents and on how they may benefit Google products and its
customers.
The latest set of IBM patents, transferred to Google on Dec. 30,
2011, includes 222 patents and covers a variety of technologies,
including email management, server backup, tuning and recovery,
e-commerce, advertising, mobile Web page display, instant messaging,
online calendaring and database tuning. Google acquired about 1,000 IBM
patents in July of last year and about 1,000 other IBM patents in
September.
In the past, Google officials have said that acquiring patents
helps the company prevent intellectual-property lawsuits and that, when
one is filed against it, patents boost Google's ability to defend
itself.
It's hard to determine which patents represent technology that
Google plans to develop and which ones are intended as litigation
protection, said IDC analyst William Stofega.
However, considering the rash of IP-related lawsuits in the mobile
market, it's safe to assume that many mobile-related patents Google
acquires are meant to strengthen its ability to fight lawsuits, said
Stofega, who is IDC's program director of mobile device technology and
trends.
"Google has had a great run with what they've done so far and it's
clear their patent portfolio isn't as rich as those of others,
especially in mobile," he said. "If you're going to be a mobile platform
player, you need to make sure you have your ducks in a row regarding
intellectual property."
A large part of Google's motivation for buying Motorola Mobility is
the latter's patent portfolio, which includes more than 24,000 patents.
That $12.5 billion deal is due to close early this year, after the
companies obtain all necessary approvals.
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