

The Nortel Loss Was Just The Beginning. - pathik
http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/04/googles-patent-problem/

======
robtoo
I'm getting tired of lazy reporting gushing about _how many_ patents are
involved in this or that deal, but with little or no discussion of which
patents these actually are and what they cover.

A few good patents trumps a big pile of trash any day. (e.g. the current
Apple/Samsung spat is about just 7 patents.)

Also...

 _Google is clearly willing to pay to acquire patents, but they’ve reiterated
time and time again that they won’t overpay for them. “This anti-competitive
strategy is also escalating the cost of patents way beyond what they’re really
worth. Microsoft and Apple’s winning $4.5 billion for Nortel’s patent
portfolio was nearly five times larger than the pre-auction estimate of $1
billion,” [SVP and Chief Legal Officer] Dummond wrote today._

How do you get to be SVP at a $200bn company without apparently understanding
that things are worth what other people are prepared to pay for them?

~~~
thwarted
Worth here is most likely return on investment. If it costs $4.5bn to purchase
the patents but they are only license-able for total of $1bn, or there's a
chance someone could get them invalidated, or your violation targets figures
out a way around them, you could have ended up spending $4.5bn for a lemon.
Spending $4.5bn on an investment that doesn't at least break even doesn't look
good to shareholders.

Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay if there is a market.
There's a only a market when a buyer and seller meet. If someone is acquiring
the patents not to (re)sell them, but to use them in an offensive or defensive
mode, there is no market to consider what people will pay for them.

~~~
robtoo
There clearly is a market for patents at the moment because large numbers of
them have been changing hands, often with multiple bidders.

~~~
thwarted
I'm not saying there isn't a market, I'm saying that the value of something is
not solely determined by what someone else is willing to pay. That determines
the price, but not the value.

But if someone purchases something without the intent to sell, that doesn't
negate that it's worth/value can not be calculated.

