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YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Google Wants a 2.25% Cut of Every iPhone Sale

    By Todd Wasserman | Mashable – Thu, Feb 9, 2012

    Looking to earn back some of the $12.5 billion it's spending to buy Motorola Mobility, Google sent a letter to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers looking for a maximum 2.25% cut of sales for phones that use Motorola's technology, including Apple's iPhone.

    The letter, which went out to the IEEE on Wednesday, outlines Google's position on Motorola patents if and when the proposed takeover is executed. (Reports say it could happen next week.) Most striking was Google's insistence on continuing to enforce a 2.25% fee on iPhones based on the model's use of Motorola patents.

    [More from Mashable: Nest Calls Honeywell Lawsuit a ‘Patent-Attack Strategy’]

    Google's stance comes about two weeks after Motorola Mobility filed a lawsuit against Apple accusing the company of infringing on its technology patents. Motorola's complaint, filed in a Florida federal court, concerns patents for the iPhone 4S and Apple's iCloud service.

    Patents has proved to be a key issue for Google and likely a primary impetus for the Motorola Mobility acquisition. That bid came after a very public spat this summer between Google, Apple and Microsoft over patents.

    [More from Mashable: What Digital Non-Profits Can Learn From Companies Like Google]

    Google fired the first salvo in early August by using its Official Blog to kvetch about an "organized campaign by Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents." The post, by David Drummond, Google's senior vice president and chief legal officer, went on to accuse Apple and Microsoft for being "in bed together" in an attempt to hurt Google's business via patent claims.

    Though Apple stayed above the fray, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith took to Twitter to point out that Microsoft had invited Google to jointly bid on patents from Novell. Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft's lead of corporate communications, also posted a letter from Kent Walker, Google's general counsel, refusing Microsoft's invitation regarding the Novell patents.

    BONUS: iPhone 4S Product Details

    iPhone 4S

    The iPhone 4S looks and feels exactly like the iPhone 4.

    Click here to view this gallery.

    This story originally published on Mashable here.

     

    15 comments

    • breweyez
      breweyez  •  3 mths ago
      I used to think Apple was a trust worthy company, but that was well over 10 years ago. What microsoft did to them 20+ years ago, they are now doing to other companies.
    • James M
      James M  •  3 mths ago
      apple and other countries currently pay motorola for use of its patents, google buys motorola and owns said patents. why shouldnt google continue to charge for letting others use its patents.
    • Namretupad
      Namretupad  •  3 mths ago
      I hate Google.
      • Alan
        Alan 3 mths ago
        why, did google do bad things to you?
      • M Live
        M Live 3 mths ago
        Alan, think, they are making money with your privacy, your data, you are made virually n ude
    • A Yahoo! User  •  3 mths ago
      I hope Apple Wins, at least they value their customer privacy, UNLIKE Google, who notified us last week that they plan to collect/ sell/ report ALL of our search/ personal data :(
      • Rob
        Rob 3 mths ago
        LIE. Google's new terms & conditions make it perfectly clear that they do NOT share or sell any of your personal data. Anyone can read them to verify you are wrong.
    • D.A.
      D.A.  •  Riverside, California  •  3 mths ago
      In the immortal words of America's poet Rodney King....can't we all just get along?
    • drz
      drz  •  El Paso, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      Apple started this patent war google is going to finish it lol!
    • Micah S
      Micah S  •  Farmington, Michigan  •  3 mths ago
      The rich trying to get richer. The consumers will never see any of this money by way of discounts or upgrades.
    • Cup O Noodles
      Cup O Noodles  •  3 mths ago
      Don't believe everything that is written. The author is only talking about a war of words in public. The lawsuits and even personal vendettas started way before then.

      Didn't Steve Jobs say in the book that he would go thermonuclear against all Android handset makers? That was when Google got into the cellular software market.
      • Alan
        Alan 3 mths ago
        yupp, jobs thought he was going to squash google I recall. The original G1 android phone didn't have a standard headset jack it used to proprietary HTC usb mini-b with audio out in 1 and you needed an adapter to use regular headsets with it. Public speculation at the time was that they did it to avoid giving apple ammo to use in court against them. Yet another reason I hate apple, trying to stomp out competition unfairly. Compete with innovation jeez.
    • Namretupad
      Namretupad  •  3 mths ago
      Read the article, "Google fired the first salvo in early August....."
      • Alan
        Alan 3 mths ago
        is this a response to something or did you mean to expound on what you wrote and you accidentally hit post too quickly?
    • Locke
      Locke  •  Olympia, Washington  •  3 mths ago
      THIS ARTICLE COULDN'T BE MORE WRONG. Apple started suing all the manufacturers-Samsung, Motorola, HP, etc., several years ago. Apple has by far the largest number of patent litigation cases going right now.
      • Alan
        Alan 3 mths ago
        Anyone with a decent memory should be able to recall this. Why an article pops up stating Google fired the first shot is beyond me. The funny part is apple is now trying to partner up with microsoft to fight google when apple first started firing shots at microsoft's windows mobile phones before google put out android.
    • me
      me  •  3 mths ago
      Excellent! Spread some of that wealth around. It about time someone knocked Apple down a notch or two.
    • Rob
      Rob  •  3 mths ago
      Apple has fallen far behind Android now in both features and current technology. Apple is still unable to produce a 4G LTE phone, while Android offers many different 4G LTE devices. Apple has definitely lost it's "cool factor". It's the "MySpace" of phones now.
    • DDD
      DDD  •  3 mths ago
      Apple is crap. Users are forced to use iTunes and pay for apps that are free on Android's Market.

      Apple started the war on patents.....now Google will be putting them in their place.
    • Jealous One's Envy
      Jealous One's Envy  •  3 mths ago
      Apple has fallen so far that it's now twice as big as google, google still doesn't have a smartphone in 2012, the Nortel patents they're about to get, will be approved by the justice department next week which covers 4G technology, that's why Apple haven't released a 4G smartphone yet! Besides all iPhones 4S, 4, 3GS are in the top 3 spots selling wise.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  3 mths ago
      I just want 1%.
     Post a comment
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