Google向对手索取专利费，苹果坚持不买单

谷歌(Google)将对于苹果公司(Apple Inc.)索求约数十亿美元的巨额，作为其使用无线手机制造商摩托罗拉移动公司(Motorola Mobility Inc.)所属专利的授权费用。Google此举预计将可为其带来足以与苹果进行交叉授权协商的优势，并有利于长久以来的专利战局开启新的局面。 Google 公司于去年收购摩托罗拉移动公司，预计这一收购移动将在本季完成。根据消息来源透露，Google将会要求苹果以及移动手持市场的其它竞争厂商为每项产品销售支付2.25%的销售额，作为其合理使用摩托罗拉专利的授权费用。然而，苹果及其它竞争厂商打算在法院对此提出抗议，并以其所控制的专利施压以要求协商让步。然而，从最近法院所作出的裁决来看，情势已明显转变得对于Google更有优势。 据估计，Google最后将可从竞争对手处取得高达数十亿美元的授权费用。至少，透过摩托罗拉强大的IP组合也有助于Google缓解其与苹果对簿公堂的诉讼问题，使其得以继续推动 Android 操作系统进展，不必再担心不断出现的种种挑战。当然，这也将有助于使 Android 授权厂商－－如三星电子(Samsung Electronics)－－减少或不必再支付授权费用给微软等公司(Microsoft Corp.)。 在Google写 给IEEE主席Gordon Day的一封信中详细说明了未来的可能发展。信中提到Google在本季完成收购摩托罗拉后，预计将对于使用摩托罗拉专利的科技公司提出合理授权条款。 Google并未指名任何目前或未来可能采用这些专利的厂商，但很显然地，苹果与微软将首当其冲。 摩托罗拉日前已经使苹果与微软陷于新一波的专利战局中。它在欧洲的一个法院中取得了胜利──德国法院判决苹果违反摩托罗拉一项与iCloud服务有关的专利，iPhone与iPad等产品还一度从德国线上商店下架。 在这场专利战争中的竞争厂商们明显地采取了较过去一年得更积极的移动。他们已经从单纯地赢得客户的心和想法，转变为采取一些法律手段来削弱竞争。苹果、 Google、微软、宏达电(HTC)和三星等公司过去一年来一直深陷于全球各法院的诉讼中。苹果公司已经分别在澳洲与德国的法院中取得对于三星公司的禁 制令，同样地在这两个国家的法院也审理其有关控制专利与侵权的行为。 Google公司最近的移动为所有相关的厂商带来了睹注，尤其是苹果公司－－在智能手机与平板电脑市场取得了压倒性的胜利后，正使该公司在某些方面已成为各方最大的竞争目标。事实上，Google和苹果分别就是彼此最主要的敌人－－在已故的苹果CEO乔布斯(Steve Jobs)的传记中，他就曾经誓言将不惜一切代价也要发动热核战摧毁Google的势力。 因此，Google之所以会将火力最大的qiang口瞄准苹果，这其实是很容易理解的。收购摩托罗拉也着实为Google带来了强大的武力后盾。摩托罗拉拥有数千项的专利将协助Google保护其免于受到法律移动波及，并压缩苹果的市场销售。 本文下一页：苹果反称摩托罗拉滥用高通的专利 本文授权编译自EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载

相关阅读：
• Google：将继续公正提供Motorola Mobility专利授权
• 不服Motorola Mobility欲收2.25%专利费，Apple酝酿反击
• 专利大户TOP50排名，鸿海位居第9euwesmc

{pagination} Google已经开始拴紧螺丝准备加强控制了。据透露，Google在发给IEEE的声明信中承诺将在整个业界推动动“公平、合理且非歧视”(FRAND)使用工程专利的精神。但这也明白地警告着竞争对手，Google计划将自这些专利使用中获得补偿。 Google在信中提道，该公司尊重摩托罗拉“在FRAND的基础上授权摩托罗拉基本要专利主张的承诺”，然而，该公司也将为每项相关的终端产品收取最多2.25%的销售额，作为交叉授权或取得授权使用的费用。 这意味着如果苹果iPhone使用或侵犯到任何摩托罗拉的专利，那么就必须为每一支iPhone的销售付给Google最高2.25%的销售额或15美元。 如果苹果每一季的iPhone和iPad持续热卖，那么，很快地就能为Google累积达数亿美元的收入。此外，强制执行这一专利授权移动也为 Google带来足以与苹果进行交叉授权的协商优势。 苹果当然不会就此示弱，他们在星期五（2月10日）提交了一份对摩托罗拉移动公司的诉讼，要求阻止摩托罗拉在德国对苹果的指控。 报道称，摩托罗拉在德国对苹果的诉讼中涉及的专利，是摩托罗拉与其通信芯片供应商Qualcomm共享专利许可协议的。 苹果认为，作为高通的客户，苹果应该是摩托罗拉和高通专利许可协议下的第三方受益人，根据该协议，摩托罗拉不能断言苹果侵犯其专利。 我相信，存在业界已久的这一专利战局将迈向一个新的阶段，最终还可能结束这一战火。接下来可能还会有更多的冲突与争执出现，但终究将能为各方厂商带来最佳利益，使其解决争议不休的专利议题并取得交叉授权的协议，同时将精神专 注于强化产品的优势，而能更直接有效地击败竞争对手。 编译：Susan Hong 本文授权编译自EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载 参考英文原文：：Google Seeks Hefty Royalties From Apple & Other Foes，by Bolaji Ojo

相关阅读：
• Google：将继续公正提供Motorola Mobility专利授权
• 不服Motorola Mobility欲收2.25%专利费，Apple酝酿反击
• 专利大户TOP50排名，鸿海位居第9euwesmc

{pagination} Google Seeks Hefty Royalties From Apple & Other Foes Bolaji Ojo Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) wants a pound of flesh from Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) for the use of patents owned by the wireless handset manufacturer Motorola Mobility Inc. (NYSE: MMI), which Google has offered to buy. Reports indicate Google may demand that Apple and other rivals in the mobile handset market pay as much as 2.25 percent of the unit price of their products for the use of Motorola patents. Apple and the rest of the competition are bound to challenge this request in court and press for concessions based on patents they control, but recent court rulings have shifted the advantage heavily in Google's favor. At best, Google could end up with billions in annual royalty receipts from competitors. At worst, the deep Motorola intellectual property portfolio could help Google ease out of its court problems with Apple and continue advancing the Android operating system without fear of constant challenges. This, of course, would also help Android licensees like Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC) reduce or eliminate royalty payments to companies like Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT). A letter sent yesterday to Gordon Day, president of the IEEE, spelled out how that future is likely to unfold. It detailed Google's terms for the use of Motorola patents by other technology companies after the acquisition, which is expected to close this quarter. Google didn't mention any current or potential patent users by name, but it's clear that Apple and Microsoft are most likely to be impacted. Motorola is locked in a patent war with both Apple and Microsoft. It clinched victory in one courtroom battle in Europe when a German court ruled that Apple was in violation of a Motorola patent related to the iCloud service. Motorola won another case in Germany recently, this one focused on cellular communications. The ruling in that case has been suspended pending an appeal, and Motorola has to post ?00 million ($132 million) in collateral if it wants to enforce the iCloud injunction. Clearly, the players in this war have become more aggressive in the last year. They have shifted from simply winning customers' hearts and minds to using legal tactics to cripple the competition. Apple, Google, Microsoft, HTC, and Samsung are locked in numerous lawsuits in courts worldwide. Apple has won injunctions against Samsung in Australia and Germany, but it has been dealt setbacks by courts in both countries in its efforts to curb alleged infringements of its patents. Google's latest move raised the stakes significantly for all parties involved, but especially for Apple, which in some ways has become the biggest competitive target as a result of its overwhelming success in the smartphone and tablet markets. In fact, Google and Apple are arch-enemies -- in his authorized biography, the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs vowed to do whatever he could to clip Google's wings. It's understandable, therefore, that Google would be aiming its biggest guns at Apple. Buying Motorola would add tremendous firepower to Google's arsenal. The thousands of patents in that kitty would help Google protect itself against legal actions and put a squeeze on Apple. Google has already started tightening the screws. The letter to the IEEE purportedly showed its commitment to the industrywide practice of FRAND (fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory) use of engineering patents. But it also served as a warning to the competition that Google expects to be compensated for the use of the patents. In the letter, Google wrote that it would honor Motorola's "commitments to license the acquired MMI Essential Patent Claims on RAND terms," though it would require payment of "a maximum per-unit royalty of 2.25% of the net selling price for the relevant end product on a go-forward basis, subject to offsets for the value of any cross-licenses or other consideration received from the licensee." What this means in practical terms is that Apple could end up paying 2.25 percent, or as much as $15 per iPhone, to Google if it uses or infringes upon any of the Motorola patents. This could add up to hundreds of millions of dollars quickly if Apple continues to sell tens of millions of iPhones and iPads each quarter. Additionally, enforcing the patents could give Google considerable leverage in negotiations for cross-licensing agreements with Apple. I believe we are entering a new phase in this patent war that could lead to the end. There will be additional skirmishes, but in the end, it is in the best interests of all the parties to settle, agree to cross-licensing of disputed patents, and focus their energies on beating rivals squarely on the strength of their products.