New Technology Reviews!.: Nortel

Google declares war on Microsoft and Apple over Android

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Google has openly declared war on Microsoft and Apple, with the internet giant claiming that a "hostile, organized campaign against Android" is being waged through "bogus patents".</div>
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The search giant has accused Microsoft and Apple of getting in to bed together because of the success of Android, in an attempt to make the mobile OS more expensive for phone manufacturers to licence.</div>
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"Android's success has yielded something else: a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents," blogged Google's high profile senior VP and chief legal officer David Drummond.</div>
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I want to be a (patent) billionaire</h4>
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The accusation stems from a mind-boggling auction for Nortel's patents which saw the CPTN group fork out $4.5 billion – some $3.5 beyond the predicted price.</div>
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"This anti-competitive strategy is also escalating the cost of patents way beyond what they're really worth," added Drummond.</div>
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"Fortunately, the law frowns on the accumulation of dubious patents for anti-competitive means — which means these deals are likely to draw regulatory scrutiny, and this patent bubble will pop.</div>
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"We're not naive; technology is a tough and ever-changing industry and we work very hard to stay focused on our own business and make better products. But in this instance we thought it was important to speak out and make it clear that we're determined to preserve Android as a competitive choice for consumers, by stopping those who are trying to strangle it.</div>
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"We're looking intensely at a number of ways to do that. We're encouraged that the Department of Justice forced the group I mentioned earlier to license the former Novell patents on fair terms, and that it's looking into whether Microsoft and Apple acquired the Nortel patents for anti-competitive means.</div>
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"We're also looking at other ways to reduce the anti-competitive threats against Android by strengthening our own patent portfolio. Unless we act, consumers could face rising costs for Android devices — and fewer choices for their next phone."</div>
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A gun boat in Apple's harbour?</h4>
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The full statement – on Google's blog – is well worth a read, as it represents perhaps the first shots of a war between the highest profile technology companies on the globe.</div>
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With the tablet and mobile phone being labelled as 'post PC devices' by no less than Steve Jobs, it is clear that the major players need to a hefty slice of the market and will pay whatever it takes to make sure they remain at the top of the tree.</div>
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Whether that's with the purchase of patents, huge investment in products (ie Microsoft's Windows Phone 7) or by marketing – it is clear that nobody can pretend that it is good-natured rivalry that is spurring on a now vicious battle.</div>
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Google declares war on Microsoft and Apple over Android

Google has openly declared war on Microsoft and Apple, with the internet giant claiming that a "hostile, organized campaign agains...

Google accuses Apple and Microsoft of teaming up to strangle Android

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<img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="151" mce_src="http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/6083/anrdoirasdfd2.jpg" mce_style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;" src="http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/6083/anrdoirasdfd2.jpg" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 8px auto; max-width: 640px;" width="125" />David Drummond, Senior VP and Chief Legal Officer at Google, has posted a diatribe against Apple and Microsoft, both competitors against Google's Android platform. "Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other's throats, so when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what's going on," Drummond writes.</div>
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What's going on according to Drummond? It's "a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents." Some of those said "bogus" patents, it bears mentioning, were subject to a US$900 million opening bid from Google, a bid the company later lost to a consortium of companies including Apple and Microsoft. Just saying, $900 million is a lot of money to put on the table for something that's bogus.</div>
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"Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it," Drummond says. I can't argue with that -- Lodsys immediately comes to mind -- but is he trying to tell us that Google would never leverage the Nortel patents against Apple and Microsoft if the bidding had gone the other way? Indeed, that seems to be<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">exactly</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>what he's saying when he accuses competitors of "fighting through litigation" instead of "competing by building new features or devices."</div>
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"Unless we act, consumers could face rising costs for Android devices - and fewer choices for their next phone," Drummond says. It's hard for me to read this, or the rest of Drummond's piece, without translating it thus: Google is scared.</div>
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The question is,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">should</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Google be scared? That depends on a few things: the strength of the Nortel patents, any possible regulatory intervention in the purchase of those patents, Apple and/or Microsoft's willingness to actively pursue patent claims and "strangle" Android, and finally, the courts' determination as to whether or not Google has violated those patents. It's pretty obvious on casual inspection that Google hasn't been innovating in a vacuum, however, so if Apple or Microsoft actually are intent on "strangling" the free ride Android's had so far, then maybe Google should be exactly as scared as it sounds.</div>
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Google accuses Apple and Microsoft of teaming up to strangle Android

David Drummond, Senior VP and Chief Legal Officer at Google, has posted a diatribe against Apple and Microsoft, both competitors against ...

Rumor: Apple bidding for Nortel patent assets

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGY143LsIXt6jYnOz5WN7j2jKsDPVLehpSnuxp2FUC4LpYOJvIzSxlfuG0AxIaCiXF-ZACUNWAaiPv5nIf4Lt3SOw9Z0PFIspCV42g-AMWpesMCSykThau3XT_w-cGirK5-j_qoon4FOM/s1600/nortel-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGY143LsIXt6jYnOz5WN7j2jKsDPVLehpSnuxp2FUC4LpYOJvIzSxlfuG0AxIaCiXF-ZACUNWAaiPv5nIf4Lt3SOw9Z0PFIspCV42g-AMWpesMCSykThau3XT_w-cGirK5-j_qoon4FOM/s320/nortel-logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=latesttecompu-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B000Y99R4W&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>The formerly high-flying Canadian telecommunications hardware provider Northern Telecom appears to be on its last legs, and Apple and Google are apparently among the vultures circling overhead ready to pick at the most valuable parts of the carcass. The two Silicon Valley companies are said to be among the bidders for Nortel's huge patent portfolio. <br />
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Nortel is a company with a history dating back to the earliest days of the telephone, having been established in 1882 by the Bell Telephone Company of Canada to manufacture phones and network equipment north of the border. In the 1990s, Nortel had tremendous growth as it provided many of the bits and pieces that made the expansion of the internet and mobile phone networks possible. The burst of the bubble saw the rapid decline of Nortel until it finally filed for bankruptcy protection in mid-2009. <br />
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Nortel has a portfolio of over 4,000 patents estimated to be worth over $1 billion. With both Apple and Google involved in patent litigation relating to their respective mobile phone efforts, the Nortel patents are likely be of great value as a defensive measure. Research in Motion and Motorola are also expected to bid on the patents in order to protect their own positions. Intellectual property battles between big companies often end up in a stalemate if both sides can conjure up sufficient patents that their opponent might be infringing on. The result is usually some sort of cross-licensing agreement that makes the lawyers wealthier and lets the companies go on their merry way. The auction of the patents is expected to be wrapped up soon.

Rumor: Apple bidding for Nortel patent assets

The formerly high-flying Canadian telecommunications hardware provider Northern Telecom appears to be on its last legs, and Apple and Googl...