In a bid to get hold of what all patents are currently present in the market, and which are the ones it needs to worry about, Google has today announced the launch of a unique, one-of-its-kind Patent Purchase Promotion, a marketplace where Google will buy patents from you, if it interested.
Well, selling patents to the right people is obviously a challenging tasks. Google too thinks, that the usual patent marketplace can sometimes be challenging, especially for smaller participants who sometimes end up working with patent trolls. Then bad things happen, like lawsuits, lots of wasted effort, and generally bad karma.
Thus, in order to make the entire patent-selling process a smoother ride, Google has announced the Patent Purchase Promotion as an experiment to remove friction from the patent market.
From May 8, 2015 through May 22, 2015, the search giant will open a streamlined portal for patent holders to tell Google about patents they’re willing to sell at a price they set. As soon as the portal closes, Google will review all the submissions, and let the submitters know whether it is interested in buying their patents by June 26, 2015.
If Google finds your submitted patent interesting enough for its already massive portfolio, it will contact you about purchasing your patent, will work through some additional diligence with you and look to close a transaction in short order. The company is anticipating everyone we transact with getting paid by late August.
However, before you start assembling your documents to sell it out to Google, do note, that the service is open only to US residents. Yeah, hard luck there.
Also, since patents involve complex legal procedures and their transfer is even more complex, Google is advising you to consult your attorneys.
From Google’s perspective, it is a good enough deal. Within its Android platform for example, the company may want to induct in some new features, which are otherwise patented to other inventors/developers. This Patent Purchase Promotion could thus be an ideal way to get hold of things which interests Google, and also things which might create hindrances in its future product launches.
More detailed information about the Patent Purchase Promotion is available on Google’s Patent Website, including all the fine print, the form to make a submission (which won’t go live until May 8), and details about what happens if Google agrees to buy your patent.
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