GPC's Alexander Poltorak was one of the patent experts interviewed by National Public Radio's Yuki Noguchi in an "All Things Considered" segment. ("What Google Gets out of the Motorola Mobility Deal", National Public Radio, August 15, 2011)
In the audio file, Dr. Poltorak's commentary begins at 2:48 minutes and underlines the importance of having a strong "defense" in the current patent environment.
Excerpt from transcript:
NOGUCHI: Google and Motorola have been the targets of many patent infringement lawsuits. In technology, patents are an important asset in the competitive battle.
Dr. ALEXANDER POLTORAK: Patent is nothing more than a license to sue.
NOGUCHI: Alexander Poltorak runs General Patent Corporation, a patent consultancy that does not represent either side of this deal. Poltorak is a Soviet emigre. He says patent lawsuits have a kind of Cold War mentality to them.
POLTORAK: The only way to defend against them is having a strong portfolio of your own, which you can use to countersue. This is what's called the Doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction.
NOGUCHI: And so, Poltorak says, that Google was compelled to go on an expensive search to amass weapons in the form of patents. Last month, Google purchased more than a thousand of them from IBM which owns the world's largest cache of patents. Poltorak says Google was still on the market for more, because when it comes to patent wars the best offense is still a good defense.
Audio file and transcript of the segment are available on NPR's website.