Google’s Motorola Sale Underscores Primacy of Patents

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With two patent-related deals in less than a week, Google Inc. is shoring up its intellectual property portfolio.

Google yesterday agreed to sell its Motorola Mobility handset division to Lenovo Group Ltd. for $2.9 billion, while holding onto most of the unit’s patent portfolio. Earlier this week, Google signed a patent-licensing agreement with hardware partner Samsung Electronics Co., covering existing patents and those filed for the next decade.