After forming a strange alliance to score control of Nortel Networks’ patents, Apple, Microsoft, RIM, Sony, and Ericsson can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Now that a Department of Justice waiting period has finally expired, the members of the so-called Rockstar Consortium can finally finish up their $4.5 billion acquisition of the one-time telecom giant’s hefty patent portfolio. → Read More
In the past, I’ve been critical of Google for trying to dance around directly calling out their competitors who are actively attempting to screw them. Today, they’re no longer dancing.
In a post just put up on the main Google Blog, Google SVP and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond takes shot after shot at Google’s competitors. By name, he calls out Microsoft, Apple, and Oracle. What’s this all… → Read More
Back in early April, Kent Walker, Google’s Senior Vice President & General Counsel, wrote a post on the Google blog titled “Patents and innovation“. The reason behind the post was clear: Google was feeling the pressure in the patent space after multiple attacks against them and their partners. And now they were going to do something about it.
In his post, Walker noted that Google had laid… → Read More
Google is in some trouble. Eric Schmidt swears he hasn’t a care in the world, but the truth of the matter is Apple has Android in its crosshairs, and that won’t change until Google’s patent portfolio broadens.
As of now, the search giant currently holds less than 1,000 wireless-related patents, and after the devastating loss of Nortel’s 6,000-strong patent portfolio, Google can’t… → Read More
Buried in all the intrigue surrounding the Nortel patent auction was an interesting tidbit: Microsoft did not have to bid on the patents, but they did anyway. Why? As far as I can tell, it’s one of two reasons. One is evil. The other is evil genius. Either Microsoft really wants to kill Android. Or, if Android continues to thrive, Microsoft wants to be the ones that make billions of dollars off of… → Read More
As we’re all well aware by now, Google did not win the rights to the 6,000+ Nortel wireless and mobile patents. Instead, a consortium featuring many of their main rivals did. That has to sting. But as more details emerge about the auction itself, it sure looks as if Google wasn’t taking the entire thing too seriously. And that’s too bad. Because Android may be royally screwed without those… → Read More
Late last night, it was revealed that Nortel had picked a winner for their patent portfolio. To the surprise of many, that winner was not Google, which had put up the initial “stalking horse” bid to get the ball rolling. Instead, the winner was a “consortium” of industry players — a consortium that includes Apple, RIM, Microsoft, Sony, and others. In other words, this sounds to us like the… → Read More
When Google first made the “stalking-horse” bid on the Nortel patent portfolio in early April, it was all but assumed that they would push hard and win the rights to the patents. They were hardly the only bidder — RIM and Apple were definitely involved — but still, after the DoJ quickly cleared Google to bid, it seemed to many (including many at Google) that they would prevail. Not… → Read More
A week and a half ago, a report said that while the U.S. Department of Justice was looking into the bidding over the Nortel wirelesspatents, they were unlikely to object to Google winning the rights to them. But a new opponent to Google’s bid has arisen. And it’s a familiar foe: Microsoft.
Specifically, Microsoft is objecting to Google being able to purchase the over 6,000 patents without… → Read More
Two months ago, Google disclosed that they were bidding on bankrupt Nortel’s patent portfolio. Why? They claim it’s a defensive maneuver to protect the “relatively young” company from would-be patent predators. And Google is very serious about it. They put up the $900 million “stalking-horse bid” (the initial bid) for the over 6,000 patents. Given the stakes, it should be no surprise that… → Read More
Note the BS The biggest issue with 4G networks is handover. When you’re speeding down the highway, your cellphone and wireless devices constantly hop from station to station, picking up connectivity as you go along. In a perfect world, this handover is seamless but, as we all know, in the real world it isn’t poifect. Nortel just tested their LTE standard with vehicles moving between… → Read More
Note the BS The biggest issue with 4G networks is handover. When you’re speeding down the highway, your cellphone and wireless devices constantly hop from station to station, picking up connectivity as you go along. In a perfect world, this handover is seamless but, as we all know, in the real world it isn’t poifect. Nortel just tested their LTE standard with vehicles moving between… → Read More
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