Google and Verizon sign patent deal and call for action on patent trolls

Verizon and Google announced a global patent cross-licensing agreement that will cover a broad range of technologies.

The companies say it will lower the risk of frivolous patent litigation in the future. “[T]he Johnny-come-lately owner of a single patent can threaten an entire innovative ecosystem,” Verizon wrote. The company also stated that the arrangement will reduce the number of potential patents available to so-called patent trolls. The deal mirrors three earlier ones that Google signed with Cisco, Samsung and LG earlier in 2014. For Google, the goal of such deals is to show that cross-licensing is a better model than “patent privateering,” in which companies farm out patents to shell companies that then threaten to sue a broad range of targets.