Increasingly, technology patents, especially for software, are not primarily product enablers, but competitive weapons. "The value of these patents is not in the technology," , senior fellow, Computer & Communications Industry Association, in HuffingtonPost.com. "These prices [for patent portfolios] are being paid for the power to block others from using technology they have developed independently. Or for the power to block others from blocking you by threatening to block them from using their technology -- 'assertion' and 'counter-assertion.'"

An , which covers legal issues relating to the free and software community, argues that Google's purchase of Motorola is "all about leveling the playing field and making sure that consumers have choice, not a choice merely between an 4 or an iPhone 5 or between an iPhone and a phone powered by Phone 7, but a choice between phones operated with a *closed* operating system and one powered by a (relatively) open operating system." 

The article continues: "I would expect one of two outcomes from this purchase: (a) an earlier than expected truce between Google and Apple and Google and Microsoft; or (b) a battle to the death. Let's hope for all involved -- the companies, the economy, and consumers -- it is the former and not the latter."

But at this point it's unclear how Google will make use of the patents. The company has been criticized for being conspicuously absent from the patent debate as Apple, Microsoft, Oracle and others mount infringement suits against the phone makers who license Android. That began to change only recently.

In July, Google , covering a range of silicon and computer technologies and architectures, explicitly, according to its general counsel, as a move to "not only create a disincentive for others to sue Google, but also help us, our partners and the open source community -- which is integrally involved in projects like Android and Chrome -- continue to innovate."