Alexander Poltorak was quoted extensively in a recent article about Google's acquisition of over 1,000 IBM patents. ("Google buys more than 1,000 patents from IBM", the Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2011)
Article excerpt:
The Internet search giant is taking part in what has become an arms race for patents. Its anemic intellectual property portfolio has made it vulnerable to legal assault, said technology patent valuation specialist Alexander Poltorak, chief executive of General Patent Corp.
..."Patents are instruments of war. Companies are acquiring patents to both defend their market share and to countersue competitors," Poltorak said.
Google's Android mobile device software has increasingly been targeted in legal complaints. A relative newcomer to the mobile industry, Google is competing against established players with large intellectual property arsenals, Poltorak said. The first Android phones went on the market in 2008. Today Android is the most widely used mobile software for smartphones, with nearly 40% of the global market, according to research firm IDC.
"Google neglected patents for many years because it did not realize that they were essential business tools. It can no longer neglect them," Poltorak said.
Read full article on latimes.com or the Sacramento Bee website. This article was also quoted in "Google Buys 1,029 IBM Patents: A Bubble Brewing?", International Business Times, July 30, 2011.