“Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond updated his criticism of the Nortel and Novell patent bid to rebuff Microsoft’s claims that it had thrown out a chance at patents by turning down an invitation to the Novell bid,” Electronista reports.
“He accused Microsoft of diversionary tactics and said that the offer to join on Novell was an effective trap,” Electronista reports. “If Google had joined the group, it couldn’t use those patents to defend itself or others from anti-Android lawsuits, the very goal Microsoft wanted to achieve by bidding in the first place. ‘A joint acquisition of the Novell patents that gave all parties a license would have eliminated any protection these patents could offer to Android against attacks from Microsoft and its bidding partners,’ Drummond wrote. ‘Making sure that we would be unable to assert these patents to defend Android — and having us pay for the privilege — must have seemed like an ingenious strategy to them. We didn’t fall for it.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Drummond’s statement reads, verbatim:
It’s not surprising that Microsoft would want to divert attention by pushing a false “gotcha!” while failing to address the substance of the issues we raised. If you think about it, it’s obvious why we turned down Microsoft’s offer. Microsoft’s objective has been to keep from Google and Android device-makers any patents that might be used to defend against their attacks. A joint acquisition of the Novell patents that gave all parties a license would have eliminated any protection these patents could offer to Android against attacks from Microsoft and its bidding partners. Making sure that we would be unable to assert these patents to defend Android — and having us pay for the privilege — must have seemed like an ingenious strategy to them. We didn’t fall for it.
Ultimately, the U.S. Department of Justice intervened, forcing Microsoft to sell the patents it bought and demanding that the winning group (Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, EMC) give a license to the open-source community, changes the DoJ said were “necessary to protect competition and innovation in the open source software community.” This only reaffirms our point: Our competitors are waging a patent war on Android and working together to keep us from getting patents that would help balance the scales. – David Drummond, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
Related articles:
Why Google lashed out at Apple and Microsoft over patents: Android is in deep trouble and its top lawyer knows it – August 4, 2011
Microsoft: Google turned down chance to join in Novell patent bid – August 4, 2011
Google legal honcho: Apple, Oracle, Microsoft use ‘bogus patents’ to wage hostile campaign against sainted Android – August 3, 2011
So not owning the patents gives Google better protection? Strange logic.
Easy as pi
LOL!! Clever! 🙂
Google’s inverted logic. Bad=good. Evil=good. Theft=good.
I’ve got no time for that sucker’s idiocy. The DOJ gave prior approval for the Nortel bid. It’s unlikely to force the winning bidders to open up the patent pool to licensing. Google will just have to take it up the ass this time. Stupid mother#%^*ers.
Well said Balmer’s nutz!
+ 1,000,000
Talk about trying to play damage cleanup, Google screwed up and it is aware of the lose it will have soon.
All of this is part of playing the media to show Google is being hurt, the problem is all the evidence against Google shows the intent they have to wage a lost war by using the media and with the hope of users backing them.
It all doesn’t add up, Drummound just keeps digging the whole deeper, They Lost the NORTEL Bid, now they are trying to get the DOJ to do the dirty work for them by complaining.
The outrage is against Google not towards Microsoft,Apple or EMC.
TALK ABOUT MEDIA SPIN.
Oh do I wash for a edit button to fix errors.
Excuse the errors.
Trials of portable computing on the go.
This guy still doesn’t get it, “Pay for what you stole”. Using so called bogus patents to avoid a licensing responsibility puts you well below those you claim are using bogus patents to protect their IP or as you claim stifle innovation. If it was truly innovation you would not need a bunch of bogus patents to protect it (Android) because it would have been issued patents on it’s own merits. Innovation does not mean copying, using someone’s patented idea before they do is also not considered innovation.
So Microsoft is supposed to feel bad about taking away Google’s ability to counter sue once they drop the hammer. Where did this guy go to Lawyer school exactly?
what the hell is a senior counsel (or any counsel) doing blogging publicly about his client’s business and their negotiating strategy?
now he’s in a high-profile spat and feels compelled to argue it out in a public forum
nice
Fascinating the way Google – who by any reasonable definition has a monopoly position in search and ads on the internet – is trying to portray this like they’re some poor tiny David against a huge evil Goliath.
And his definition of “balance the scales” is hilarious, considering the way that Google abuses their monopoly cash to dump free products into existing markets, to destroy or disrupt existing businesses. Google’s asking for a free pass so they can further unbalance the scales in their own favor!
I guess I’m not very bright because I really can’t see his point. Smacks of desperate spin gibberish.
No. You’re actually very bright. Because you can see Bozo the “petulant 13-year-old” clown for what he is. 🙂
Wow! If you are going to spin something in business, it had better hold together better and be less transparent than this bunch of hypocritical bull.
Once again, great MDN take. Because you can’t top the original foot-in-mouth, can’t write this comedy of errors up. He’s even their legal head honcho of sort.
I understand what Google’s Chief Legal Officer is trying to backtrack to: they can’t enter into any co-ownership of any patents because then Google can’t threaten these same folks with these patents. Why purchase ‘bogus’ patents if you can’t bogus litigate someone into cross-licensing their hard earned IPs away? Bogus right?
However, obviously, this whole notion of purchasing patents to strong-arm competitors is something uniquely Google’s right for the simplest of reasons, they’re the champion of openness and transparency. Anybody else says otherwise, and/or does what Google had attempted to do here by outbidding, are bunch of bullies, and should immediately be dealt with lobbyist funded government regulatory bodies instead.
Has the DOJ actually done this, or is this something they’re trying to do?
It seems so
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/April/11-at-491.html
Sorry, but this guy just can not stop with the nonsense. There is no way to spin the fact he claimed that the Evil consortium wanted to push aside poor Google from buying the patents and, at the same time, the fact that Google was asked to join and refused,
Soon to be ex Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond. The next thing he had better be updating is his resume.
I have a feeling, he just acted as a mouthpiece for Larry Page. First off, you can’t just write a blog, in an official capacity for Google, on something of this importance and media spotlight glaring bright, without the CEO’s consent. No legal chief, regardless of however many years/decades at work, is this dumb.
Either way he is out soon, he either did by himself or is a scapegoat for Larry. You know, it is backstabbing culture in google land. I hope google keep this lawyer just like microsoft keep Ballmer.
I think the most interesting point is this excerpt from the direct quote: “Ultimately, the U.S. Department of Justice intervened, forcing Microsoft to sell the patents it bought and demanding that the winning group (Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, EMC) give a license to the open-source community, changes the DoJ said were “necessary to protect competition and innovation in the open source software community.”
I recall reading the DOJ was looking into this allegation, but have not found anything saying they had made a determination that would effectively nullify the value that the group spent $4.5B on. Sounds like counsel is either engaging in revisionist history, or expressing a hoped for result. Does this mean that DOJ is also going to investigate Google for the IBM patents? Seems like a one-sided view, if not. Probably has something to do with how much money is being paid to lobbiests, instead of for work product
Unless I am also looking in the wrong places, I cannot find anything about DOJ requiring licensing to open source community either. I find articles indicating that any licensing already in place outside of the buying group had to honored, which makes sense. I also found an article saying DOJ was studying whether there were anti-trust issues, particularly as it may affect parties outside of the group (i.e. Goggle). However, it would seem to me that if they find any, the sale would be null and void and I doubt if the Nortel creditors would be happy with that. We have not heard the last of this. But as many have indicated., Google certainly seems to be running scared right now and I think are regretting nor being part of the auction action.
Look here
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/April/11-at-491.html
‘Ultimately, the U.S. Department of Justice intervened, forcing Microsoft to sell the patents it bought and demanding that the winning group (Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, EMC) give a license to the open-source community, changes the DoJ said were “necessary to protect competition and innovation in the open source software community” ‘
This is pure obfuscation. This condition was applied since the patents concerned were previously available under ‘friendly’ terms to Open Source outfits – effectively maintaining the status quo.
The Nortel patent portfolio in question were not afaik, ever licensed to the Open Source community on friendly terms and thus the concerns are moot.
This revisionist guy is history.
It’s irrelevant anyway. If Google doesn’t own the patents exclusively, they’re useless for defending Android.
——RM
As far as I know, the winning Rockstar group never said they weren’t going to license the patents. Of course, licensing means that Google will be paying money to the consortium.
Google: The FBI is waging a war against criminals and bank robbers!
Well, stop the presses!
Countdown until Mr Drummond takes an unexpected leave of absence in three… two…
Man. Goober er Google is looking even more STUPIDER than Samdung!
Make no mistake, Google has already decided to fight this in the court of public opinion, with propaganda and false charges to trigger government intervention. They seem to get a free pass on government investigation.
Does Google have some special relationship with DOJ? Are they generous 0bama contributors? Is there any public repository for such information?
But they do have close ties with the CIA.
He had better watch it. I think Palin has a patent on “gotcha”.
and… when he says… “Our competitors are waging a patent war on Android and working together to keep us from getting patents that would help balance the scales.”
isn’t it in fact admitting that Android is infringing on the patents in question, and that HTC and their like have been producing phones that don’t have licenses for the technology contained in their hardware?
If i’m reading this correctly, he has basically CONFESSED that Google went ahead and made/bought android knowing it did not have the intellectual property patents to defend it. They made a bid for the nortel patents in an attempt to defend themselves against the lawsuit they KNEW was going to come. They are upset that their plan was foiled by Microsoft and Rockstar who knew what they were up to and outbid them. Wow, Google is really screwed. Then the news comes out that Rubin said they ned to license Java but the Page and Brin said no. What a bunch of dicks. I hope Oracle takes them to the cleaners.
I’m afraid that may be a false hope. This is not the age of justice; it is the age of slap on the wrist.
Unless you’re ruling against Apple. I don’t think they ever got an easy pass, let alone a fair fight.
Google were the first to bid for Nortel’s patent trove at a ridiculous sum of $1.5b. They were first to see the possession of “worthless” patents as a path towards legitimizing their illegal theft of other’s IPs. They wanted all and refused to join with others to bid for the patents. Either Google was freaking stupid or they are too arrogantly overconfident and cocky; instead of seriously bidding they were playing doodles with numbers. By the time they realize their mistake they have blown big time on a one-time opportunity to defend Android.
Now they are running scared and are accusing others of being patent trolls and anticompetitive. So evil – that’s Google.
Google’s idea of freedom to innovate on the back of iOS is like a car enthusiast deciding to hot rod a Ferrari. And not just any Ferrari, one that he stole. He leaves the engine. All the internals but he welds his own body on it and it looks like an alienware laptop on wheels. So
Hi tek! When he is able to sell it for hefty profit. Far less than the cost of a new, albeit less jazzy version of his car, he decides to go into the business of selling stolen modified ferraris full time. When he is caught, he argues the nobility of his crime by stressing the idea that he is a pioneering artiste. And at the same time a robin hood figure who steals from the rich and gives to everyone! For half the price. Or buy one get one free.
It’s really really hard to argue the morals of that business model. But that’s what google is doing. It’s even harder to argue the necessity or wisdom of tampering with something that already runs so fast and smooth as the original Ferrari.
Maybe I’m taking the analogy a little far but I’m reminded of the Steve jobs video where he talks about bad taste and Microsoft. Google has bad tast too. And to Apple. I promise you it’s not just the fact that google is stealing that pisses them off. It’s that they are stealing. And turning their hard work into something ugly. Steve jobs hates ugly.
Jobs now has the two companies he most loathes at each others’ throats. Genius.
Yesterday I commented that Mr. Drummnod sounded suicidal. Now I think he’s simply gone BAT SHITE CRAZY. WTF is he going on about? Is his legal opinion valid? Or does he reside in BIZARRO WORLD?
Wow, just wow!
To bad you can’t write fiction stories this good.