Apple takes the patent wars seriously. Google not so much

The Google boys wanted to show off their number theory chops. Steve Jobs needed to win.

Google's Page and Brin

Perhaps if it had been Google (GOOG) that was getting hauled into court for patent violations it would have fought harder to win this week's auction for the rich portfolio of intellectual property bequeathed by the bankrupt Nortel Corp.

But it was Google's Android partners -- the HTCs, Motorolas and Samsungs of the world -- that were getting sued for making smartphones that look and feel suspiciously like the iPhone.

And when bidding for the patents that would have bought Android some legal protection got serious, Google started playing games.

Quoting "three people with direct knowledge of the situation," Reuters reported late Friday that Google was making bids that were literally irrational -- using numbers like Brun's constant (1.902160540...), the Meissel-Mertens constant (0.2614972128...) and, when they got permission to go past the $3 billion limit, pi (3.14159...).

"Google was bidding with numbers that were not even numbers," one of Reuters' sources said.

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Posted in: Andoid, Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Google, iPhone, Microsoft, Nokia, Nortel, Patents, Research in Motion, Samsung, Sony

• Report: Apple, too, has its eye on Nortel's patent portfolio

  Said to join Google, Intel, Ericcson and RPX in a bid for 6,000 telephony patents

  This was the week we found out how valuable telecommunications patents can be.

  On Tuesday, Apple (AAPL) settled its long-running patent dispute with Nokia (NOK) for what analysts estimate could be as much as $1 billion in licensing fees.

  On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple had joined the crowd of companies bidding for the telephony MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jun 17, 2011 3:33 PM ET
  Posted in: Apple, Ericsson, Google, Intel, LTE, Mobile, Nokia, Nortel, Patent, RPX, Wall Street Journal, Wi-Fi

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  'Smarter is coming' in the form of an old OS on good hardware.

  Update: Right on time, Sony press release pasted below

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  Seth Weintraub - Aug 8, 2010 6:50 PM ET
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  "What I've learned in this industry, and I've spent 18 MORE

  Stephanie N. Mehta, Deputy Managing Editor - Mar 29, 2010 6:45 AM ET
  Posted in: Droid, Ericsson, Hans Vestberg, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Sony Ericsson

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  Gilstrap, a veteran of network operators such as Britain's Cable & Wireless, told Brainstorm Tech he thinks MORE

  Stephanie N. Mehta, Deputy Managing Editor - Aug 11, 2009 12:32 PM ET
  Posted in: AT&T, Douglas Gilstrap, Ericsson, outsourcing, Sprint, Verizon