I believe they occupy different, but slightly overlapping niches in the chain of causation. Theranos&#x27; claim to fame is a method of blood testing that requires drawing of significantly smaller amounts compared to traditional&#x2F; contemporary methods of blood testing. The claim is that Theranos&#x27; method can produce satisfactory blood test results with smaller vials of blood. Google&#x27;s patent however is specifically on the means of drawing. Therefore, a medical care provider could reasonably combine Google+Theranos&#x27; methods, unless of course Theranos&#x27; method has a strictly incompatible means of drawing blood. Hopefully someone more versed can shed more light on this