Google settles with Immersion over haptic technology, licenses it for use in Motorola devices

Google has settled with Immersion just nine months after it was sued by Immersion, a company that develops touch feedback systems. The deal sees Google licensing the patents for use in future Motorola devices, along with compensating the company for using the technology in prior Motorola devices.

The lawsuit was filed against Motorola before Google officially acquired them in May 2012. The original lawsuit alleged that Motorola infringed upon six of Immersions patents and was filed with the US ITC, which has the power to block imports should a device be found to be infringing. CEO Victor Viegas:

The successful resolution of this case is a critical step in our overall strategy of enforcing and monetizing our intellectual property, including Basic Haptics, and we're pleased to achieve a settlement that is consistent with our business model, which is largely based on per unit running royalties.

We remain fully committed to enforcing our IP rights while continuing to innovate and create new technology and solutions for the mobile space. While the terms of the settlement will remain confidential and are not anticipated to have a material impact on our financial results for 2012, this settlement is a great step forward in validating the value of our IP portfolio and the investments we have made in the mobile market.

Immersion has outstanding lawsuits over similar technology against HTC. Google's licensing agreement does not cover Android devices made by other manufacturers, at least not yet, so that lawsuit is unaffected by Google's settlement.