In July, a consortium led by Microsoft, Apple and wireless industry players such as Research in Motion paid $4.5 billion for 6,000 patents from the now liquidated networking company Nortel. Last month, Google purchased Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, in part to gain access to the company's 17,000 patents. And Eastman Kodak, a company struggling to navigate the digital era, has multiple parties bidding to buy its patent portfolio.
Welcome to the patent bull market. "There is clearly a patent-hoarding mentality in technology -- and in mobile communications, specifically," says Andrea Matwyshyn, a professor of legal studies and business ethics at Wharton. "The game is to amass as many patents as you can."
Part of the reason for the run on patents is the surge in lawsuits among key industry players. Oracle is suing Google for Android royalties, alleging that the search giant's mobile operating system infringes on the patents for its Java programming language. Microsoft is suing Motorola, claiming that the cell phone manufacturer has violated its software patents. Meanwhile, Apple and mobile phone manufacturer HTC have also filed suits against each other. Pick any company in the wireless industry, and you are likely to find a patent lawsuit associated with it, say experts at Wharton.
To read the full, original article click on this link: What's Fueling the Tech Patent Bull Market? - Knowledge@Wharton
