Google buys 187 patents from Big Blue

Google has purchased nearly 200 patents from IBM for an undisclosed sum, IBM confirmed. The purchase of 187 patents and 36 patent-pending applications is part of Google's continued pursuit of intellectual property, ZDNet reported Saturday. Google purchased about 1,000 patents from IBM this summer and is attempting to buy Motorola Mobility Holding, also as an attempt to acquire patents that could protect Google from lawsuits down the road. If the $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola's smartphone division is approved, Google would add 17,000 patents and another 7,000 patents-pending to its intellectual property portfolio. European antitrust regulators are studying the merger. Google also tried to purchase Nortel's trove of 6,000 patents, but its bid, submitted to a bankruptcy court, was not successful.