Hasta La Gadget!

If you haven’t noticed, the mobile patent wars have been heating up lately, and Motorola hasn’t exactly been sitting quietly on the sidelines. In the past year, the company’s been in the courtroom with a number of major players, including Apple and Microsoft, and now the outfit seems poised to go after other Android handset makers. According to Unwired View, during a keynote speech at the Oppenheimer Technology and Communications conference, CEO Sanjay Jha signaled that Motorola could soon go on the offensive when it comes to the competition:

I would bring up IP as a very important for differentiation (among Android vendors). We have a very large IP portfolio, and I think in the long term, as things settle down, you will see a meaningful difference in positions of many different Android players. Both, in terms of avoidance of royalties, as well as potentially being able to collect royalties. And that will make a big difference to people who have very strong IP positions.

If Motorola does indeed intend to differentiate itself from its competitors by clutching tightly to its patent portfolio, could we soon see a replay of Microsoft’s recent royalty collection binge? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Sanjay Jha hints at Motorola’s plans to collect patent royalties from Android competitors originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple may still be staying out of the fray, but it looks like we now have a full-on back and forth between Google and Microsoft, following the former’s blog post yesterday that alleged a “hostile, organized campaign” against Android on the part of Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and others. The latest word comes once again from Google’s SVP and Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, who has updated his original post with a response to what he calls Microsoft’s “false gotcha.” As you’ll recall from late yesterday, Microsoft brought up the fact that it had offered Google the opportunity to bid jointly with it on the Novell patents, and that Google turned it down. According to Drummond, however, such a joint acquisition would have “eliminated any protection these patents could offer to Android against attacks from Microsoft and its bidding partners,” and that it “didn’t fall for it.” He further goes on to note that the Justice Department’s eventual intervention in the acquisition — which required the winning group to provide a license to the open source community — only backed up Google’s case, and reaffirmed its original point that its “competitors are waging a patent war on Android and working together to keep us from getting patents that would help balance the scales.” Still no response from Microsoft on that, but we’d recommend staying tuned.

Update: Well, once again, Frank Shaw, lead corporate communications for Microsoft, has taken to Twitter to tell Redmond’s side of the story. In several tweets he reiterates that Google rebuffed Microsoft’s offer to tag team the patent-bidding process and claims that El Goog wanted Novell’s IP all to itself — so that it could sue others instead of using the portfolio to reduce patent-liability for all. We don’t know if that was Google’s true intention, but we do enjoy seeing these two tech titans duke it out in a public forum. Keep it up, guys.

Google addresses Microsoft’s ‘patent attack’ response, says it didn’t fall for its offer (update: Microsoft responds, again) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It, as they say, is on. Google’s Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, made an appearance on the company’s official blog today with a post not-so-subtly-titled “When patents attack Android,” which directly addresses what he calls a “hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents.” Drummond then goes on to cite a number of examples of this “organized campaign” from those trying to “strangle” Android, including Apple and Microsoft teaming up to buy Novell and Nortel’s old patents “to make sure Google didn’t get them,” Microsoft seeking $15 licensing fees for each Android device, and lawsuits against the likes of Barnes & Noble, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung.

According to Drummond, those efforts amount to a “tax” that makes Android devices more expensive for consumers and manufacturers alike, and that “instead of competing by building new features or devices, they are fighting through litigation.” He further goes on to bemoan the “anti-competitive strategy” that’s “escalating the cost of patents way beyond what they’re really worth,” and closes things out by noting that he’s encouraged by Justice Department investigations into the aforementioned Novell and Nortel patent issues. Hit the source link to read the full post yourself.

Update: And now, shots have been fired from both sides. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s General Counsel, has shot off the following tweet: “Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no.” We’re guessing the truth lies somewhere in between, as it always does.

Update 2: Hoo boy! The hits just keep comin’ out of Redmond. Frank Shaw, lead corporate communications for Microsoft has just tweeted an image of an email between Brad Smith and Kent Walker (Google’s General Counsel) that appears to corroborate the claims that Microsoft wanted to team up with El Goog.

Google slams Apple and Microsoft, claims ‘hostile, organized campaign’ against Android waged through ‘bogus patents’ (update: Microsoft responds!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We imagine getting smacked with a lawsuit soon after landing Stateside isn’t quite the welcome wagon Spotify had hoped for. Alas, PacketVideo isn’t interested in jamming with this musical newcomer, and has instead picked a patent fight with Spotify in the Southern District of California. The patent in question is for streaming music in digital form from a central source, and it’s been licensed by mobile mavens Verizon, NTT DoCoMo, and Orange. According to the complaint, PacketVideo told Spotify in May about its IP, but Spotify wasn’t picking up what PacketVideo was putting down, and continued its supposedly infringing ways. Thus, the present action was filed and now PacketVideo is seeking a permanent injunction and triple damages due to Spotify’s alleged willful infringement. Of course, this is only the opening salvo in what could easily become a lengthy dispute, so feel free to break out the popcorn while we wait for Spotify’s response.

Spotify sued by PacketVideo for patent infringement originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 03:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever heard of estoppel? The term, sadly, does not denote a new German electronic bus service, but is rather a court-ordered way of telling companies “no backsies” on previously made public statements. It could also prove to be another nail in Oracle’s patent dispute coffin, should Google’s latest Wayback Machine defense hold up. Thanks to the internet’s never say die policy, a 2007 post, recently deleted by Oracle, from Sun Microsystem’s then CEO Jonathan Schwartz has surfaced, in which he enthusiastically endorsed Android’s Java base. The public statement falls in line with the aforementioned legal doctrine, potentially contradicting new owner Oracle’s patent infringement claims. Unfortunately for both parties, Judge William Alsup doesn’t seem to be too cool under the collar as he’s reportedly blasted each for “asking for the moon” and chiding them to “be more reasonable.” A final ruling in this case is still a ways off, but in the meantime you can head to the source to read Schwartz’s damning praise for yourself.

Sun CEO’s deleted blog post to help end Oracle vs Google patent dispute? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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