Patent News: sale

Myhrvold throws a party and surprise: the press was invited!
Somehow I can imagine Richard Vines sitting there eating thinking "Must not mention Lodsys, must not mention Lodsys". After all he wouldn't want to upset Microsoft's "Guru", he might not get invited back to the next party! Despite Vines groveling Myhrvold can't help but think we're all scum, except him of course. After all he's a famous inventor...the patent troll "protection" business.

Businesses split on merits of overhauling patent process
The Myth That Software Startups Need Or Want Patents

Eight MILLION Patents! | TacticalIP.com

Groklaw - Post-Bilski: The Federal Circuit Further Refines Patentable Process Claim Subject Matter

J udge’s Mind not Changed by Reexamination Outcome : Reexamination Alert™

Pending Reexamination has Major Effect on Injunction Decision : Reexamination Alert™

First to File in the Unpredictable Arts: Change in Law Requires Balancing of Competing Interests

Leave Patent Licensing To The Professionals « Gametime IP

Warning: Patent Analyst Shouts At The Rain « Gametime IP

So How Do We Fix The Patent System? | Techdirt

The Economist Notices That The Patent System Is Hindering Innovation And Needs To Be Fixed | Techdirt

The Economist Disagrees With The Economist: Argues We Need More Patents, Approved Faster | Techdirt

Specialist Patent Courts Are Part Of The Problem - Forbes

Patent-filing changes may give big firms an advantage - press of AtlanticCity.com: Business

An Overview of the PCT International Patent Process | IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law

One step closer to a Single European Patent System

Stupidest article I read all week: China’s Innovation Capacities May be Over-hyped. Because you know the best way to judge a country's innovation is to count the number of patents they file! What a ridiculous metric.

China Update 20 August 2011 from IP Think Tank

Censorship

Cisco Sued By Chinese Political Prisoners Over 'Golden Shield'
Baidu may face tougher rules after state media criticism | Reuters

As Governments Get Censorship Happy, New Technologies Popping Up To Route Around That

Oh Look, The Publishing Industry Is Growing In The Digital Age As Well | Techdirt

Pharmaceutically Speaking, Part 5.5: Stem Cell Patent Update | TacticalIP.com

Upcoming training events:

Patent Docs: IPO Program on Compulsory Licensing

Patent Docs: USPTO Announces Agenda for Next BCP Customer Partnership Meeting

Patent Docs: Webinar on AMP v. USPTO

August 17, 2011

Circuit City puts DIVX #patents up for sale, anyone in need of a failed disc format? -- Engadget

Circuit City's ill-fated video rental alternative, DIVX (not DivX), went belly up over a decade ago but just like Nortel, now that its parent company is belly-up its patents may still have some value. In case you've forgotten, the DIVX scheme offered discs similar to DVDs that were initially viewable for 48 hours, but could be activated for more time over a phone line. Now, the Circuit City Stores Inc. Liquidating Trust has entered into an agreement to sell the remaining patents to Imaging Transfer Co., but not before opening the sale to others in an auction, scheduled to take place August 16th.

#Kodak Puts #Patent Portfolio on Market

Eastman Kodak Co. has kicked off its patent sale, as the beleaguered imaging company seeks to ride the bull market for patents and capitalize on its intellectual property in the booming market for tablet computers, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Investment bank Lazard Ltd. began marketing the portfolio this week, reaching out to companies that might be interested, said a person familiar with the matter.

#WiLan offers C$480 mln for #patent holder #Mosaid | Business | Reuters

WiLan, which is after Mosaid's nearly 3,000 patents for mobile, semiconductor and other technologies, said it would take the offer directly to Mosaid shareholders after approaching the company on several occasions over recent years to propose a deal.

'It is my belief that to succeed in today's market, bigger is better,' said WiLan Chief Executive Jim Skippen, previously an executive at Mosaid.

Between them, the two Ottawa-area companies hold about 4,200 patents in wireless, wireline, consumer electronics and semiconductor technologies.

Wi-LAN, #Mosaid deal would create #patent powerhouse - The Globe and Mail

One of Canada’s two biggest patent-licensing companies is making a $480-million offer for the other, highlighting the seemingly unquenchable appetite for intellectual property rights in the technology industry.

Wi-LAN Inc. announced Wednesday it intends to make an offer of $38 per share for Mosaid Technologies Inc., another patent-licensing company headquartered just a few blocks away. The offer represents a 20-per-cent premium above Mosaid’s closing price Wednesday.

#BlackBerry Maker #RIM Again Subject of Takeover Talk

But as #Google moves to buy #Motorola Mobility, RIM, already under pressure from diminished prospects and declining market share, is once again the subject of takeover talk.

Since the Motorola acquisition was announced on Monday, shares of RIM, which have suffered for much of the year, have shot up more than 10 percent, mainly on speculation of a sale.

“For a long while the market cap of RIM prevented any kind of takeover,” said Adam Leach, a London-based analyst with Ovum. “I’m certainly not writing them off now, but they have got a tough job.”

AppleInsider | #Apple predicted to 'strike back' at #Google with its own #patent purchase

Following Google's bid to purchase Motorola Mobility, Apple is predicted to strike a deal -- perhaps with competitors Nokia or RIM -- to consolidate its already significant patent portfolio and better position itself both offensively and defensively.

In a note to investors on Tuesday, Jeffries & Co. analyst Peter Misek concluded that Apple is likely to 'strike back' by acquiring patents from rivals such as Nokia or Research in Motion as a response to Google’s purchase of Motorola Mobility. He also mentioned InterDigital, which has been widely viewed as a potential target for acquisition by Apple and other major players in the smartphone industry.

Misek identified what he considers 500 'essential 3G and 4G patents' that are part of Motorola’s significant patent portfolio. Based on the price Google paid for Motorola, he values each of these at $20 million, given the fact that they could be used by Google not only to defend Android against potential attacks from Apple, but also to counterattack the Cupertino-based company and other rivals in the future.

Apple, Qualcomm, others eye InterDigital | Reuters

#Apple Inc, #Nokia and #Qualcomm Inc are among several technology companies pondering bids for InterDigital Inc, sources familiar with the situation said.

The auction of the wireless telecommunications specialist -- expected to be heavily contested as giant tech companies fight to shore up patent portfolios -- will be postponed from next week until after Labor Day, the sources said.

Shares in InterDigital, which has a market value of about $3 billion, leaped as much as 12.2 percent on the news. But it quickly backtracked and was up $4.38 or 6.8 percent at $68.41 in afternoon trade.

Report: Sale of #InterDigital 's #patent portfolio delayed

The sale of InterDigital's patent portfolio has been pushed back until early September in order to give potential buyers a better chance to evaluate it, according to a new report.

Reuters says the sale of InterDigital's portfolio, which stretches some 8,800 granted patents and nearly 10,000 patent applications, is being delayed until after Labor Day. The sale was originally slated for next week, sources told the outlet, but potential buyers want to vet the portfolio in light of recent landmark intellectual property purchases.

Will #Microsoft Attack #Google 's #Motorola ?

It seems the tech pundits were right: Within a day of Google announcing it would acquire handset-maker Motorola Mobility (and its extensive patent hoard) for $12.5 billion, Microsoft began its appeal to the search engine giant’s other Android partners.

“Investing in a broad and truly open mobile ecosystem is important for the industry and consumers alike, and Windows Phone is now the only platform that does so with equal opportunity for all partners,” Andy Lees, president of Microsoft’s Windows Phone Division, wrote in a widely circulated Aug. 15 statement.

I think the answer lies somewhere between definitely and you can bet your life on it.

August 16, 2011

#Amazon releases secure #cloud for government

Cloud service provider Amazon Web Services ( #AWS ) today announced AWS GovCloud, a new AWS Region designed to allow U.S. government agencies and contractors to move more sensitive workloads into the cloud by addressing their specific regulatory and compliance requirements.

Amazon's move reflects the ongoing adoption of public cloud services by government entities, including the U.S. Treasury's Recovery Accountability and Transparency board, which hosts Recovery.gov and Treasury.gov on AWS, as well as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which processes telemetry data and high-resolution images on an array of EC2 cluster compute instances.

Ouchpad: Best Buy Sitting on a Pile of HP Tablets

There have been plenty of hints that Hewlett-Packard’s TouchPad isn’t selling well. First there was a $50 discount. Then there werespot discounts of $100 at outlets like Costco. Then the $100 discount became permanent. Adding insult to apparent injury, a deal on Woot for $120 off an entry-level 16-GB TouchPad netted all of 612 takers...

According to one source who’s seen internal HP reports, Best Buy has taken delivery of 270,000 TouchPads and has so far managed to sell only 25,000, or less than 10 percent of the units in its inventory.

What #Google Gets With #Motorola Mobility | Techdirt

On the very face of it, Google doesn't need a handset subsidiary to make a custom Google phone. They can easily commission a handset exactly how they want it from OEM brands like HTC and Samsung, and have already done just that with the Nexus models. They could easily design their own brand of phones and have it built by contract manufacturers like Foxconn (as Apple does). I've read elsewhere that Google now gets the benefit of better understanding of the challenges of integrating Android into handsets. That's also incorrect. Google has a history of sending teams of engineers to most of their handset and tablet partners to work side by side overcoming those challenges.

Perhaps Google just saw a good deal on Motorola. Its stock price has been dropping through the decade, and also the past year. The market value prior to today was just $7.3 Billion, compared to $20B for Nokia or $13B for RIM. Perhaps, like Nortel before it, the value of Motorola's Intellectual Property (IP) is being hidden by a poor operational record.

Analysts do the math: #Google will pay $510,204.08 for each of #Motorola 's patents

Rajeev Chand, managing director and head of research at Rutberg & Co., said patents are the principal driver. He points out that Google can mitigate or eliminate the patent risk for Android, which could free up as much as $8 per device in royalties. Other drivers for the deal include development in new markets, specifically mobile payments, and developing a vertically integrated solution to more effectively compete with Apple, Chand wrote.

#Google: S&P Cuts Rating To Sell From Buy; Sees Risks In Deal to buy #Motorola

Citing concerns about about Google‘s plan to spend $12.5 billion to buy Motorola Mobility, Standard & Poor’s analyst Scott Kessler today cut his rating on the search engine’s stock to Sell from Buy, slashing his price target on the stock to $500, from $700.

F5 Networks Buys Assets from Crescendo

F5, which is a leading player in the application delivery networking space, is buying assets from rival Crescendo, which is in liquidation proceedings. The move adds to F5’s portfolio and removes a competitor.

A #Motorola lawsuit primer (infographic)

Below we've chronicled some of the intellectual property suits flung at, as well as flung by Motorola Mobility, ranging from big battles with companies like Apple, Microsoft and TiVo, down to spats with intellectual property holders that have named it along with others for infringing on one or more of their patents. You can read more about each of the legal efforts beneath the chart:

#Google 's Purchase of #Motorola Mobility

Motorola Mobility holds over 24,000 patents and pending patent applications worldwide. In the US market alone, the company holds around 5,000 patents and 1,500 pending patent applications. The bulk of these patents were assigned to Mobility during the split from Motorola. However, the unit has continued to apply-for and obtain patents since the split. Motorola Mobility also owns a number of subsidiary companies that also hold their own patents, such as General Instrument, Inc.
Some pending US litigation:
Motorola Mobility v. TiVo

(E.D. Tex.): Mobility asserts that TiVo is infringing a number of "fundamental" DVR patents that General Instrument obtained when it purchased Imedia. These include U.S. Patent Nos. 5,949,948, 6,304,714, and 6,356,708.
Motorola Mobility v. Microsoft

(W.D. Wisc. and ITC): In three separate lawsuits, Mobility asserts that Microsoft's XBox infringes a number of its patents, including U.S. Patents Nos. 6,980,596; 7,162,094; 5,319,712; 5,357,571; 6,686,931; 5,311,516; 6,069,896; 6,992,580; 7,106,358; 6,686,931; 7,088,220; and 5,738,583.
Motorola Mobility v. Apple

(S.D. Florida): Mobility asserts that Apple's iPhone 4 infringes a number of its wireless device and software patents, including U.S. Patents Nos. 5,710,987; 5,754,119; 5,958,006; 6,008,737; 6,101,531; 6,377,161; and 5,455,599. In a separate lawsuit, Apple accuses Mobility of infringing its patent Nos. 5,481,721; 5,566,337; 5,915,131; 5,929,852; 5,946,647; 5,969,705; 6,275,983; 6,343,263; and 6,424,354.

August 15, 2011

“Defending #Android ”

Bravo #Google, well played.

There’s no denying that Google’s maneuver this morning to acquire Motorola for $12.5 billion in cash is remarkable. Everyone is talking about every possible angle of the deal, as they should. The summertime is usually the doldrums when it comes to tech news. Not this year. Google is pulling off an acquisition that is larger than any that Microsoft, Apple, or any of their other main competitors ever have. Larry Page, wartime CEO. Larry Page, maverick.

Guess who else wanted to buy #Motorola ? #Microsoft

#Google may not have had much of a choice when it came to buying Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. If it didn’t, someone else would have and that would have put the company in an even bigger patent hole.

Our sources say that Motorola was in acquisition talks with several parties, including Microsoft for quite some time. Microsoft was interested in acquiring Motorola’s patent portfolio that would have allowed it to torpedo Android even further. The possibility of that deal brought Google to the negotiation table, resulting in the blockbuster sale.

Patent News

August 21, 2011

Last week in patent news (August 20-27)