Foxconn sells communications patents to Google

Foxconn, the Asian technology company that makes hardware for businesses, has sold some of its patents related to communications technology to Google. The company has sold the patents for an undisclosed amount.

The Wall Street Journal reported this on Friday. It is not known exactly how many patents are involved and which patents are involved. Google probably wants to be able to cover itself against patent matters with the purchase.

Foxconn, officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is best known for manufacturing computers, smartphones, tablets and consoles for other companies such as Apple, HP and Sony. Less well known is that the company owns a large number of patents. Foxconn was in 2013 in the top 20 companies with the most patents in the US. Foxconn is said to have about 64,000 patents worldwide.

It happens more often that Google tries to get a lot of patents in one fell swoop; for example, in 2011, the search giant bought Motorola for $12.5 billion, mainly to acquire the company’s patents. Foxconn, meanwhile, continues with its research & development. The company also wants to develop robots together with Google.