Patents as Assets, like Google’s Purchase of Motorola Mobility

Interesting timing, as the day after I listen to This American Life’s episode, “When Patents Attack,” Google buys Liberyville, IL based Motorola Mobility.

Within minutes of the surprise announcement, the attention has turned from Google buying a company that is their largest Android phone builder, to a warehouse of patents.

Quick reactions from Forbes, Marketwatch, and an enormous (and growing) list of stories from one of my favorite aggregators of tech news, Techmeme have turned this to a story about patents as assets. TAL does a very good job of digging into the history and maybe future of how we invent.