Google Inc. Joins LTE Patent Holders

On Thursday, Google announced its joining the group of companies that own patents related to LTE technology. Thus, the company became a participant in the Via Licensing project, the goal of which is to create so-called “patent pools”, reports Recode .

A pool of patents can be created by any group of companies holding patents related to certain technical standards. At the same time, companies that agree to make their own patented technologies a part of a pool of patents understand that they license their own intellectual property to a wide range of partners by offering their products at a reasonable price. At the same time, combining patents into a single pool facilitates the interaction of patent holders with licensees, companies requesting the right to use certain technologies.

And although the patent holder may receive a lower amount for licensing, joining a company to a group of companies that created a pool of patents for standards like LTE, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth opens up the possibility for such companies to work with a wider range of partners.

Google Corporation became a participant in the Via Licensing project just a week after the trial in San Francisco , the essence of which is accusing Google of refusing to cooperate with Microsoft in one of the technology areas where Microsoft requested the ability to use one of Google technologies. Joining the LTE pool will allow Goole to protect itself from such claims in the future, although it will significantly limit the potential profits derived from licensing its technologies to other companies.
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The representative of the patent department of the company Brian Blasius (Brian Blasius) said that Google hopes that the pool of LTE-patents will find the original solution for the interaction of patent holders and licensees.

The pricing policy of Via Licensing is open: under the initiative, each company that intends to use a patent pays from $ 2.1 to $ 3 for each device released. Then the profit is divided between all participants in the patent pool. Participants in the LTE-patent pool also include AT & T, Hewlett-Packard, KDDI, NTT Docomo, SK Telecom, Telecom Italia, Telefónica and ZTE. In 2013, China Mobile and Deutsche Telekom were the latest companies to join the pool. Now added and corporation Google.