Financial Times - "Patents main lure behind Google’s purchase"

Shortly after acquiring a passel of patents from IBM, Google has again made news - this time by buying Motorola Mobility. Many IP experts, including GPC's Alexander Poltorak, believe that the purchase was motivated by Google's need for patents.

(Patents main lure behind Google’s purchase, Financial Times, August 15, 2011)

Article excerpt: Putting a value on Motorola’s patents is not easy, according to experts in the field. It depends not only on the quality and range of the 17,000 patents themselves, but also on their strategic value to the company that holds them.

In general, portfolios of IP rights like this trade for around $200,000-$300,000 per patent, said Alexander Poltorak, chief executive of General Patent Corporation, which handles IP licensing on behalf of other companies.

That would imply a value of around $4.25bn for the Motorola holdings – though given Google’s urgent need, it would have paid substantially more, he adds. According to an estimate by Nomura in London, Google probably put a value of around $6bn on the patents – most of the premium the deal has put on Motorola’s stock.

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