Google Bought $10 Million Worth of TeraHop Patents

Google Inc., noted patent hawker, which finally acquired Motorola for $12.5 billion today, also paid about $10 million for another set of patents owned by a now-bankrupt portable network device compan...
Google Bought $10 Million Worth of TeraHop Patents
Written by
  • Google Inc., noted patent hawker, which finally acquired Motorola for $12.5 billion today, also paid about $10 million for another set of patents owned by a now-bankrupt portable network device company called TeraHop.

    For a bit of backstory, TeraHop, based in Georgia, had filed for bankruptcy protection in September, and just last week, after the indictment of Seattle investment professional Mark Spangler, a court-appointed receivership revealed that Google had invested $10 million in patents in the company, regarding tracking technologies associated with shipping containers and RFID technologies. Spangler is charged with 23 counts of fraud and money laundering, allegedly floating $46 million through Terahop and Tamarac, which prompted the investigation of the companies.

    A potion of the Google money might be used to pay back swindled investors, and some of the 115 acquired patents include:

    – An antenna for cargo container monitoring
    – A security system visually capturing and monitoring contents and events of cargo container
    – A radio frequency identification based sensor

    Google knows better than to take any chances on possible patent infringement, after a drawn-out trial with Oracle over Java patents – thought the search giant will likely come out of that proceeding with a slap on the wrist, as opposed to a possible $1 billion restitution some had speculated.

    Get the WebProNews newsletter delivered to your inbox

    Get the free daily newsletter read by decision makers

    Subscribe
    Advertise with Us

    Ready to get started?

    Get our media kit