The company has bought 3,800 patent families from NEC that cover such mobile technologies as 3G and 4G LTE, as well as other technologies found in such devices as smartphones. This move is part of its PC Plus business strategy and comes on top of its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which will also bring it many patents to play with.
The antics of Apple and Samsung to shut each other down with patent disputes have put the fear of god into new entrants to the market such as Lenovo. It wants a large portfolio of patents to protect themselves against infringement accusations. What normally happens is that a company tries to shut down a competitor using a patent claim, and then the rival plays its patent card which neutralises the rival’s one. This means that the person with the most valid patent wins.
Lenovo has said that it will continue adding to Lenovo’s IP portfolio through both its own internal development as well as from outside sources. The NEC deal came weeks after Lenovo spent $100 million to buy 21 patent families from mobile technology vendor Unwired Planet. Those patents also cover 3G and LTE, as well as other mobile technologies.
Last year that Lenovo was in talks with NEC to buy the Japanese tech giant’s smartphone business. However, the talks reportedly stalled over debates among the companies over which would be the majority owner of a joint venture and its patents.
