Motorola patent woes continue

The Wall Street Journal says.

The lawsuit also creates a potentially awkward scenario, with a firm partly backed by Google now presenting a Google acquisition target with a new legal headache. IV disclosed Google's investment in the firm in May.

IV is well known in the technology industry as a predator; perhaps the most emblematic of the 'protection racket' approach to patent litigation. It's the world's largest holder of patents, and it either attempts to find companies that it thinks it can argue infringe those patents, and either negotiate a licence or file a lawsuit, Forbes reports.

“Intellectual Ventures has successfully signed licensing agreements with many of the top handset manufacturers in the world, and has been in discussions with Motorola Mobility for some time. Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach agreement on a licence,” IV's chief litigation counsel, Melissa Finocchio, said in a statement.

Patent experts said the case was “concerning”, and cast doubt on Google's ability to defend Android partners, BBC News says.

IV, set up by Microsoft's former CTO, Nathan Myhrvold, has built up much of its pool of about 35 000 patents by buying intellectual property from inventors. It then generates money for investors by signing licensing deals with hi-tech firms that use the patented technologies.