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Updated Friday, January 6, 2012 12:41 am TWN, AFP

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Google buys IBM patents for Android

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google on Wednesday confirmed that it has added more IBM patents to its technology arsenal as smartphone rivals increasingly battle in courts over innovations.

Google bought 188 patents and 29 patent applications related to mobile phones from IBM but did not disclose how much it paid.

Last year, IBM sold Google 2,000 or so patents ranging from mobile software to computer hardware and processors.

Google has been strengthening its patent portfolio as the fight for dominance in the booming smartphone market increasingly involves lawsuits claiming infringement of patented technology.

The California Internet powerhouse behind Android mobile device software last year transferred a set of patents to smartphone titan HTC Corp. to help the Taiwan-based company in an intellectual property clash with iPhone maker Apple.

Technology giants have taken to routinely pounding one another with patent lawsuits. Apple has accused HTC and other smartphone makers using Google's Android mobile operating system of infringing on Apple-held patents.

Some of the patents that HTC got from Google had belonged to Motorola Mobility, which Google is buying for US$12.5 billion in cash.

Motorola Mobility's trove of patents was a key motivation for Google, which is keen to defend Android.

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