China changes tactics on technology patents

It seems that the Chinese technology industry can no longer be regarded as a breeding ground for blatant IP infringement and patent proliferation with China recorded as the third highest filer of patents in 2010 – 337 497 patent applications have been recorded for the last year. 

The influx of patents not only underscores China’s growing strength in the technology sector, it also reveals a change in the country’s attitude toward intellectual property in general. It seems China is now starting to move toward recognising ideas and their origins….

The increase in patent filings has also sparked an increase in litigation….. Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corporation (China’s top two telecoms equipment makers) are engaged in litigation proceedings. ZTE filed a lawsuit in China in April saying Huawei had infringed its fourth generation technology. It seems both made progress in selling their mobile communication products in China and they are possibly now using patents as a competition tool…..

In general, intellectual property civil litigation increased in China by 37 percent to 41718 last year, according to the country’s Supreme People’s Court.

It seems the Chinese counterparts to Apple, Google and Samsung are developing their own armoury of patents. The obvious question being: is this to further stifle competition in the global smartphone industry……or have they  acted pre-emptively to the whole global  fist-fight by ensuring that their competitive edge remains as untouchable as possible……..

With reference to The Business Report of 26 August 2011.

Google acquires Motorola patents and suits up for battle……

After Google’s clear disillusionment with the patent world, as discussed here and evidenced by this recent Google blog post: “We recently explained how companies including Microsoft and Apple are banding together in anti-competitive patent attacks on Android…..” Google have decided to acquire Motorola Mobility, the spun-off phone manufacturing wing of the original Motorola.

In terms of the reasons proferred by Google for the acquisition, the following was said on their blogspot: “Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.”

By grabbing Motorola, Google has certainly gained access to more patents to beef up its Android patent portfolio and this will enable it to counter (and respond with counter suits of their own) to any future IP threats……

Therefore, it seems as though, as much as this transaction it is about getting some really, really cool Android hardware out on sale, it is also about protecting the Android phone from further IP battles….clearly their previous patent vulnerability has promted them to prepare more on the patent front and suit-up properly for any potential battles on the horizon…. but in the mean time they are becoming armed and dangerous themselves…..

Google disenchanted with patenting world

After my previous post regarding the proposed acquisition of Nortel patents by Google, it seems that their bid was largely unsuccessful. This has clearly left Google feeling bitter and disenchanted with the patenting world  and they are now alleging that Microsoft and Apple are only acquiring technology patents in a bid to stem the advent of the Android phone (full article here). In my view, that seems a bit rich coming from the company who had it not been unsuccessful in its attempt would have right now been using the Nortel technology patents for the exact same purpose: to stem the technology developments of its rivals…… could this be a case of the pot calling the kettle black? I certainly think so…….. 

This brings me to an interesting point: is this where the world of technology patents is moving to? Of course, the scale of magnitude of this patent war can never be rivalled in a country such as South Africa…….However it would still seem wise for technology companies to acquire as many patents of their own as they possibly can…….if consistent development and innovation is a key to the success of a technology company then Google’s position is not  a good one to be in: stunted by its competitors… (and clearly very embittered as a result of it……)