Google Owned Motorola Mobility Cashes in on $228 Million in Patent License Fees

San Diego – Smartphone manufacturer Motorola Mobility, who was recently purchased by Google, has received a total of $228 million in cash and licensing fees from an unnamed company for use of certain patents. Analysts are speculating that the company in question is Blackberry-maker Research in Motion (RIM.)

In a recent SEC filing, Motorola announced that in June of this year, it had entered into a settlement and licensing agreement with a company to resolve all outstanding legal disputes between them. Records indicate that in January 2010, Motorola filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission accusing Research in Motion of engaging in unfair trade practices by the importation and sale of RIM products that allegedly infringe on five Motorola patents.

A spokesperson for Motorola Mobility declined to share any information on the identity of the mystery company, however both Motorola and RIM announced in June that they had entered into a similar agreement. The agreement states that the two companies will share license rights to a number of unnamed patents that covered aspects of 2G, 3G, 4G, 802.11, and wireless email technology.

“The agreement includes provisions for an upfront payment of $175 million from the other company to [Motorola Mobility], future royalties to be paid by the other company to [Motorola Mobility] for the license of certain intellectual property, and the transfer of certain patents between the companies,” said the SEC statement.

The legal settlement announced in June between Motorola and Research in Motion came nearly two months before Google made public its plans to purchase Motorola Mobility, a subject also covered in the SEC filing. Motorola indicated that the Merger with Google might have a “negative impact” due to “intensifying litigation or increasing new legal claims from competitors and other third parties, particularly as companies vigorously pursue and protect their intellectual property rights with patent litigation.”

Motorola Mobility also claimed that the merger may be hampered due to uncertainty of the outcome from employees and customers alike.