If anything, Google?s deal to acquire Motorola Mobility ? which received approval this week from both the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission ? makes more sense than it did six months ago.

Between August of last year and the beginning of this year, there has been consolidation of market share in the smartphone category and the use of intellectual property lawsuits have continued apace. The deal, now that it has the all clear, could give Google a way to better protect itself on both fronts.

?If anything, it seems that the pace of litigation continues to climb,? said Ross Rubin, executive director, industry analysis at The NPD Group, Port Washington, NY. ?That clearly has been one of the driving factors behind this acquisition.

?Increasingly, we find Android licensees willing to pay royalties to Microsoft for alleged infringement,? he said.

?The key is whether the Motorola patent pool can reverse this trend or slow down further action from other companies that would seek to collect and make licensing Android less profitable.?

Hardware strategy
While there has been some question about whether the Motorola patents will be an effective foil to lawsuits from Microsoft against Android licensees, Google needs all help it can get as the attacks keep coming.

In addition, the DOJ also cleared the way for Apple, Microsoft and Research In Motion deal to buy Nortel?s pool patents, potentially giving these companies more ammunition in their legal attacks.

?There is some indication that Apple is turning its attention more toward Android as an operating system versus the physical design of handsets in initiating litigation,? Mr. Rubin said.

The DOJ and EU approved Google?s bid to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12 billion after determining that the deal is not likely to significantly change existing market dynamics or be a threat to competition.

Since the deal was first announced, Google has maintained that Motorola will be treated the same as other Android manufacturers and that Motorola will be run as a separate business.

The goal of the deal is to boost the Android ecosystem to benefit all hardware manufacturers and drive innovation.

?One of the big question marks around the deal is whether Motorola will gain unfair advantage versus other licensees and get preferential treatment,? Mr. Rubin said.

?Google has publicly offered assurance that Motorola will not get preferential treatment, but it also says that it hopes to supercharge Android via the acquisition,? he said. ?So there remains some question as to how much Motorola phones will benefit by being a part of Google.

?If Google keeps a clear delineation between software and hardware, than what if any is Google?s long-term interest in being in the hardware business??

OS options
So far, at least one licensee, Samsung, does not seem to be threatened by the acquisition, with the company continuing to invest in devices on the Android OS and growing into a strong competitor next to Apple for the No. 1 spot among smarpthone makers.

?We have seen somewhat more consolidation in share in the Android marketplace and stronger competition from Apple,? Mr. Rubin said.

The possibility remains that OEMs may take a closer look at other operating systems unless it becomes clearer that Motorola has an inside track that other do not have. However, there are not a lot of options out there for OEMs as Windows Phone has not caught on in any significant way yet.

There are also indications that Google may, in fact, have a strong interest in the hardware business.

With the success that Apple has found by controlling both the software and hardware elements in its mobile products, Google may be looking to try a similar strategy.

According to reports, Google is investing more than $120 million in construction projects at its headquarters that include hardware testing labs.

?It does seem that Google is stepping up distribution of what have been its own branded handsets and there have been discussions that Google may bring its brand to other devices such as a home entertainment device,? Mr. Rubin said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York