Apple and Nokia, along with Qualcomm and several other companies, are weighing bids for InterDigital Inc in order to scoop up its trove of patents for wireless tech, reports Reuters. The company is up for sale and is proceeding with its auction.
The news that Apple and Nokia are interested in the roughly 8,800 patents available from a purchase of InterDigital isn’t in itself all that surprising. Many have viewed the InterDigital auction as the next big patent hoarding battleground for some time now. The altered variable now is Google’s announcement of its purchase of Motorola Mobility, and its 17,000+ patents, on Monday.
InterDigital bills itself as the developer of “fundamental wireless technologies that are at the core of mobile devices, networks and services worldwide.” The company holds about 8,800 U.S. and foreign patents, with 10,000 more in process around the world. Is anyone else getting as tired of hearing about patents as I am?
I am too bored of patents, I do however, hope Apple will continue buying patents and protecting its IP as long as the patent system stays the same.
In a dream world though, I wish Apple, Microsoft, Google etc would all go to Washington and demand a patent reform.
I. Hate. Patents!
It’s a little bit like watching the U.S., Soviet Russia, and China build nuclear missiles.
I’m not tired of hearing about patents. It’s a big deal in techie circles but it needs to make the transition into the general public’s conscience before we have a chance of getting some meaningful software patent reform. I was happy to hear This American Life’s show about software patents. That was a huge step. Now we need to get some people from the U.S. congress to stop trying to destroy our country and do something useful instead.