Lenovo Buys Unwired Planet's Mobile Patents for $100M

PC maker Lenovo inked a $100 million cash deal to purchase and license a portfolio of patents from Unwired Planet.

Among the 21 patent families are parents for 3G and LTE mobile technology, as well as other mobility charters.

"This investment is an extension of Lenovo's existing intellectual property portfolio," Jay Clemens, general counsel of Lenovo, said in a statement. "It will serve the company well as we grow and develop our worldwide smartphone and mobile PC Plus business in new markets."

Terms of the agreement state that Lenovo is licensed to Unwired Planet's intellectual property portfolio for an undisclosed number of years, covering standard essential, implementation, and application layer technology for mobile devices.

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement with one of the world's leading global technology companies," said Philip Vachon, chairman of Unwired Planet's board of directors and head of its intellectual property committee. "We wish Lenovo continued success going forward."

The transaction is expected to be complete in 30 days.

The deal comes after Lenovo purchased Google's Motorola Mobility smartphone business for $2.91 billion. Earlier this year, the computer manufacturer expanded its Vibe device lineup with its first LTE-capable smartphone, the Vibe Z, which launched alongside the S930, S650 (pictured), and A859 handsets.

During February's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Lenovo trotted out its updated Yoga Tablet 10 HD+, a shape-shifting slate that facilitates what the company calls "multi-mode" usage.

While Lenovo is making a name for itself in the mobile device market, Unwired Planet has made a few enemies over the years.

In the fall of 2012, the patent holder sued heavyweights Apple and Google, claiming the firms infringed on 20 of its patents relating to smartphone devices, cloud computing, digital content stores, push notification technologies, and location-based services like mapping and advertising.