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Maybe I'm wrong here, but I'm going to assume that Google did its due diligence, came up with a value to bid on the patents (that includes future costs of law s

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I'm going to assume that Google did its due diligence, came up with a value to bid on the patents (that includes future costs of law suits, royalties owed/earned, as well as new technologies derived from the patents) and made that bid. In that case, what their opponents pay (or perhaps, overpay) is no longer Google's concern. That's the mindset you have to take in an auction.

chalst 15y ago
Did Google know who they were bidding against?
- tatsuke95 15y ago
  That's part of the risk assessment. They would have to account for the fact that competitors would also bid on the patents.
  - chalst 15y ago
    So you think they didn't know?
spiffworks 15y ago
Unfortunately, the cost of the lawsuit will be borne by the handset makers and not by Google. The price of these patents is fairly indeterminable because the chilling effect of the almost certainly imminent lawsuits is hard to estimate. Now Google has no choice but to back the OEMs to the hilt and fight this to the death in the courts.