LTE可能引爆下一轮专利诉讼

    正如苹果（Apple）与三星（Samsung）的专利诉讼大战所突显的那样，专利已成为科技巨头们的新型硬通货。刻板乏味的法律文书变得至关重要，这倒不一定是因为其财务价值，而是因为战略和营销价值。简言之，专利是获取竞争优势的方式之一。

    苹果与三星的专利诉讼案判决看来也没有怎样改变这一趋势。LTE（意即“长期演进”）技术是从设备制造商到软件开发商，到网络运营商在内的所有IT业领导者都在追逐的下一代无线技术，因为消费者要求获得速度更快、更稳定的网路。LTE技术还为LG电子（LG Electronics）、诺基亚（Nokia）等在3G设备鼎盛期显著落后的二线公司提供了赶超三星、苹果等领头羊的机会。三星和苹果两家公司现在合计把持着智能手机市场半壁以上的江山。

    例如，LG电子最近就宣称持有的LTE专利数量最多，据知识产权咨询公司估算价值约80亿美元。TechIPm的科技业知识产权战略专家埃里克斯•李称：“自从智能手机大行其道以来，确保竞争地位的最有效方式就是拥有专利。”他还说：“LG致力于持有坚实的4G专利组合，这是项好策略……该公司拥有超过4,000万美元的基础价值，可对专利进行授权或出售，有望带来巨大的价值。”（4G 和LTE常常互换使用。）

    但对于大肆宣扬专利战略价值的做法，也有一些人士提出了质疑。换言之，LG将必须履行专利授权承诺。“因此，未来它可以从专利中获得一些财务上的回报，但还不足以据此抗衡像苹果这样的对手，”专利专家弗洛里安•穆勒在一封电子邮件中写道。而且，由于大多数专利诉讼案的公司最终都通过交叉授权来了结案件，NH Securities and Investment证券投资公司驻首尔的分析师李成泰表示，最终唯一的赢家可能只有律师。

    即便如此，在过去的几年中，大公司达成了越来越多的移动技术专利交易。就在上个月，英特尔（Intel）向移动技术开发和授权公司InterDigital购买了价值3.75亿美元的3G、4G LTE 和Wi-Fi技术。更值得一提的是去年，已破产的北电网络（Nortel Networks）将其LTE专利拍卖给了包括苹果、EMC、爱立信（Ericsson）、微软（Microsoft）、黑莓手机生产商移动研究公司（Research In Motion）和索尼（Sony）在内的竞争对手联合体，总价达45亿美元。去年8月，谷歌（Google）以125亿美元收购了摩托罗拉移动（Motorola Mobility），也大大强化了其专利组合。

    为什么LTE如此重要？LTE技术处于一些最重要的技术发展趋势的焦点。市场研究公司Strategy Analytics的高级分析师尼尔•沙赫称，这些趋势包括频段效率、数据传输和速度、设备能耗管理等。事实上，LTE专利几乎涉及到热门消费设备和服务的方方面面。

    比方说，为了提高数据速度，运营商们正在使用一种名为“载波聚合”的技术，将多个频带合并成一个数据链来提高频段效率。另一种用于提高数据传输质量和速度的技术涉及“多入多出”（MIMO）技术，在无线基站和设备中采用多个天线以同时传输更多数据。当前，LTE网络使用两根天线，预计未来将增加到8根。但挑战是硬件制造商如何将更多的先进原件安装到越来越轻薄的手机中。

    As dramatically shown in Apple and Samsung's epic legal conflict, patents have become the new currency among tech giants. Dull-sounding legal instruments have become all-important, not necessarily because of their financial worth but for their strategic and marketing value. Simply put, patents are a means to gaining a competitive advantage.

    A verdict in that marquee case seems to have done little to alter that trend. So-called LTE -- the term stands for "long-term evolution" -- is the next wireless technology that IT industry leaders from device makers to software developers and network operators are pursuing as consumers demand faster and more reliable networks. LTE technology also provides second-tier players such as LG Electronics and Nokia (NOK) who lagged badly during the heyday of 3G devices an attempt to catch up with the likes of Samsung and Apple (AAPL), which together own more than half of the current smartphone market.

    LG Electronics, for one, recently boasted that it holds the largest number of LTE patents, estimated to be worth around $8 billion according to intellectual property consulting firms. "Since the smartphone boom, the most efficient way to affirm their position is patents," says Alex Lee, an IP strategy expert at TechIPm, of technology companies. "LG has a good strategy to position [itself] with strong 4G portfolios...it has more than $40 million of base value, and it can utilize the patents for licensing or sell them, the values would be huge," Lee adds. (The terms 4G and LTE are often used interchangeably.)

    On the other hand, some criticize the hype of strategic value of patents. In other words, LG will have to honor its licensing commitments. "As a result, it will get some financial value out of those patents, but it won't be able to leverage them against a rival such as Apple," Florian Mueller, a patent expert, wrote in an email. And since companies in most patent lawsuits end up settling for cross-licensing deals, the only clear winners in the end may be the lawyers, notes Lee Sun Tae, an analyst at NH Securities and Investment in Seoul.

    And yet, major companies have increasingly struck deals involving wireless technology patents in the last few years. Just last month, Intel (INTC) bought $375 million worth of patents on 3G, 4G LTE and Wi-Fi technologies from InterDigital, a wireless technology developer and licensor. More notably last year, bankrupt Nortel Networks auctioned off its LTE patents to a consortium of key players including Apple, EMC (EMC), Ericsson, Microsoft (MSFT), Research In Motion (RIMM) and Sony (SNE) for a total price of $4.5 billion. Google (GOOG) boosted its patent cache by acquiring Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion last August.

    Why has LTE proved so central? LTE technologies are at the nexus of some of the most important trends in technology. These include spectrum efficiency, data transfer and speed, and power management of devices, according to Neil Shah, a senior analyst with Strategy Analytics. In effect, LTE patents permeate nearly every aspect of popular consumer gizmos and services.

    For instance, to increase data speed, operators are working to improve spectrum efficiency by using a technology dubbed carrier aggregation, which combines multiple bandwidths into one data link. Another technology to improve quality and speed of data transfer involves what's called "multiple input multiple output," or MIMO, which employs multiple antennas in cell towers and on devices to transfer more data at the same time. Currently, LTE networks use two antennas and are expected to expand to eight in the future. The challenge lies with hardware makers trying to pack more advanced components into phones that are always becoming thinner.