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This piece really is all about the Nortel patents. Google wanted the Nortel patents very badly but couldn't find enough fellow bidders whose interests matched

by grellas 15y ago

This piece really is all about the Nortel patents. Google wanted the Nortel patents very badly but couldn't find enough fellow bidders whose interests matched its own to overcome the concerted efforts of Apple, Microsoft, and others who have a stake in pulling Android down. An interesting analysis of who the winners and losers were in this bidding process appears here: http://www.tangible-ip.com/2011/what-does-nortel-mean-for-the-winners-and-losers.htm http://www.tangible-ip.com/2011/what-does-nortel-mean-for-th.... Having lost that bid, Google is in a far worse position to defend Android from patent attacks than it ever has been before. Essentially, all of its competitors now have formidable new weapons to use against the Android platform. This isn't so much an issue of "trolls" as it is conventional large players who use patent portfolios as arsenals for both offensive and defensive purposes. Google's enemies are now much more formidably armed as a result of the bidding. Google therefore hopes to stir the DOJ into doing something about this on the antitrust front. The DOJ is scrutinizing this deal and may wind up imposing conditions that could be vital to Google. Its antitrust chief, Christine Varney, had represented Netscape while in private practice years ago in its antitrust fight with Microsoft and she has publicly expressed concerns about the misuse of patents by trolls and others for anti-competitive purposes (for those with a subscription, see this WSJ piece: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576363781889157222.html?KEYWORDS=nortel+patents http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230365740457636...). Quite apart from her personal views, however, it is problematic that competitors can collude horizontally to do a major IP acquisition for what seems like an obvious anti-competitive purpose. Google is not a "little guy" that might elicit sympathy in battling over the mobile space but it clearly has had its competitors gang up on it in pulling off the Nortel bid. Android will undoubtedly survive this attack but Google is seriously worried about being besieged in this way. In this piece, it is essentially looking to its last best hope in the DOJ for attempting to block this attack by competitors who hope to win by artificial legal means that which they can't win in the marketplace. Let's hope this gets the scrutiny it deserves.

macrael 15y ago
What do you think about the fact that Microsoft council claims the following: Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no. https://twitter.com/#!/BradSmi/status/98902130412355585 https://twitter.com/#!/BradSmi/status/98902130412355585 Why would Google decline to be a part of this consortium? It would have disarmed its competitors.
- fpgeek 15y ago
  Novell != Nortel I believe Microsoft was referring to a different patent auction, when Novell was being carved up for parts.
  - barista 15y ago
    obviously a typo.
- kenjackson 15y ago
  My theory is they went in thinking they were willing to spend a lot more money than a consortium. I think they underestimated. And then after realized that being the odd man out put them in a tenuous position. It's one of those things where people weren't out to get you. But they played their hand so poorly they've made themselves the obvious target. Curious if the Nortel deal happened in at all the same way.
- intended 15y ago
  Well if the consortium had plans to keep the patents closed, while Google wanted them to open them up, I can see why Google couldn't be a part of that panel.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
dmethvin 15y ago
> This piece really is all about the Nortel patents. You bet! Nortel is a household name for all they have done to advance technology and for the smartphone industry in particular, I am shocked that anyone could dispute the validity of these patents. We owe them a debt of gratitude for the Nortel PalmPilot, the nDroid, nPhone, the nPad, and all the other consumer products Nortel has poured their innovation into. They gave so much, in fact, that they went into bankruptcy. If it wasn't for Nortel, why, who knows where Apple, Google, Microsoft, and the others would be? The bones of Nortel are probably brimming with innovative new product ideas that only need cash from Apple or Microsoft to see the light of day.
- recoiledsnake 15y ago
  I am sure that there was no innovation at all in the phone hardware space in the past 40 years before the palmpilot, iPhone, Droid and iPad devices. Right? If only those devices came out in the 80s, we could have had 40G instead of just 4G now!
- mattmanser 15y ago
  Validity? No, I'm sure they did. Timescale? Today's innovation is at an incredible pace. To grant patents that don't reflect that is absurd, what was innovative 20 years ago is utterly mundane today. Because what was a difficult problem 20 years ago is trivially solved today even without that innovation. That so many patents are used offensively without ever seeing their inventor use them practically is evidence of this. To pretend otherwise is to grant monopolies to people who have already reaped the benefits of their inventions at a massive cost to society, the very people these laws were meant to benefit.
- Terretta 15y ago
  I worked at Northern Telecom. You would likely be astonished at how much they did invent that got licensed into products you take for granted.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- dman 15y ago
alex_c 15y ago
>Google wanted the Nortel patents very badly but couldn't find enough fellow bidders whose interests matched its own to overcome the concerted efforts of Apple, Microsoft, and others who have a stake in pulling Android down. Not to downplay the importance of losing the bid, but is it possible Google simply decided there are more effective ways to get what they want than to spend an extra $2 billion on top of their highest bid? $2 billion can buy you a lot of lobbying. Patent reform or action by the DOJ could greatly decrease the value of the $4.5b of patents Google's competitors just bought.
Hisoka 15y ago
> Android will undoubtedly survive this attack Did you have to spoil the ending? Come'n, I was hoping for a little suspense at least!
reven 15y ago
What I am missing is why Sony and Ericsson, who jointly develop android based phones, would not partner up with Google and rather partner up with their competition (apple et al). My suspicion is that SE actually need the patents in order to continue produce devices. Whereas Google can take the money/time they were prepared to invest and clean up the code removing infringing components for the Icecream sandwich release. Thats ignoring the "lets play patent monopoly" and just focusing on the core products being produced. Code and Handsets.

by grellas 15y ago

macrael 15y ago

What do you think about the fact that Microsoft council claims the following: Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no. https://twitter.com/#!/BradSmi/status/98902130412355585 https://twitter.com/#!/BradSmi/status/98902130412355585 Why would Google decline to be a part of this consortium? It would have disarmed its competitors.

fpgeek 15y ago
Novell != Nortel I believe Microsoft was referring to a different patent auction, when Novell was being carved up for parts.
- barista 15y ago
  obviously a typo.
kenjackson 15y ago
My theory is they went in thinking they were willing to spend a lot more money than a consortium. I think they underestimated. And then after realized that being the odd man out put them in a tenuous position. It's one of those things where people weren't out to get you. But they played their hand so poorly they've made themselves the obvious target. Curious if the Nortel deal happened in at all the same way.
intended 15y ago
Well if the consortium had plans to keep the patents closed, while Google wanted them to open them up, I can see why Google couldn't be a part of that panel.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

dmethvin 15y ago

> This piece really is all about the Nortel patents. You bet! Nortel is a household name for all they have done to advance technology and for the smartphone industry in particular, I am shocked that anyone could dispute the validity of these patents. We owe them a debt of gratitude for the Nortel PalmPilot, the nDroid, nPhone, the nPad, and all the other consumer products Nortel has poured their innovation into. They gave so much, in fact, that they went into bankruptcy. If it wasn't for Nortel, why, who knows where Apple, Google, Microsoft, and the others would be? The bones of Nortel are probably brimming with innovative new product ideas that only need cash from Apple or Microsoft to see the light of day.

recoiledsnake 15y ago
I am sure that there was no innovation at all in the phone hardware space in the past 40 years before the palmpilot, iPhone, Droid and iPad devices. Right? If only those devices came out in the 80s, we could have had 40G instead of just 4G now!
mattmanser 15y ago
Validity? No, I'm sure they did. Timescale? Today's innovation is at an incredible pace. To grant patents that don't reflect that is absurd, what was innovative 20 years ago is utterly mundane today. Because what was a difficult problem 20 years ago is trivially solved today even without that innovation. That so many patents are used offensively without ever seeing their inventor use them practically is evidence of this. To pretend otherwise is to grant monopolies to people who have already reaped the benefits of their inventions at a massive cost to society, the very people these laws were meant to benefit.
Terretta 15y ago
I worked at Northern Telecom. You would likely be astonished at how much they did invent that got licensed into products you take for granted.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
dman 15y ago

alex_c 15y ago

>Google wanted the Nortel patents very badly but couldn't find enough fellow bidders whose interests matched its own to overcome the concerted efforts of Apple, Microsoft, and others who have a stake in pulling Android down. Not to downplay the importance of losing the bid, but is it possible Google simply decided there are more effective ways to get what they want than to spend an extra $2 billion on top of their highest bid? $2 billion can buy you a lot of lobbying. Patent reform or action by the DOJ could greatly decrease the value of the $4.5b of patents Google's competitors just bought.

Hisoka 15y ago

> Android will undoubtedly survive this attack Did you have to spoil the ending? Come'n, I was hoping for a little suspense at least!

reven 15y ago

What I am missing is why Sony and Ericsson, who jointly develop android based phones, would not partner up with Google and rather partner up with their competition (apple et al). My suspicion is that SE actually need the patents in order to continue produce devices. Whereas Google can take the money/time they were prepared to invest and clean up the code removing infringing components for the Icecream sandwich release. Thats ignoring the "lets play patent monopoly" and just focusing on the core products being produced. Code and Handsets.