Quote:
Originally Posted by murraypaul
I don't believe that Google could license to HTC the right to sue on their behalf.
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It wouldn't be the right to sue on their behalf. It would be the right to sublicense -- grant the rights to use by a third party. In this case, HTC would have a right to sublicense a patent that blocks the iPhone. They would then tell Apple that they would sublicense ( and give Apple the ability to sell the iPhone ) if Apple agrees to offer a license for any blocking patents that they hold.
As I mentioned earlier,the problem with this approach is that it negates the ability of Google to use the patent to get broader coverage for all Android licensees.
My original point was that this didn't make sense. If these patents have any value against Apple, Google (who is spending 12 billion for Motorola's patents) would keep them for their own use. On the other hand, HTC Recently bought patents from three other companies, and some analysts have speculated that some of these purchases have only dubious value. It could be just that HTC is taking a kitchen-sink approach: throwing everything possible against Apple in the hopes that the total wad of stuff was yucky enough that Apple would back down. However that doesn't sound like a winning strategy to me.