Following Amazon's recent entrance in the mobile device market with the debut of its Kindle Fire tablet, the company may be looking to bolster its position with the acquisition of intellectual assets owned by Palm.

Earlier this week, a new plot line was added to the ongoing competition between technology giants as Amazon took aim at Apple's market-leading iPad with the debut of its own mobile device. Competitors have been unable to halt the growing popularity of the Apple tablet in recent months, and if the Kindle Fire is going to cut into that popularity Amazon officials know bold actions may be required.

According to Venture Beat, Amazon may soon acquire Palm mobile technologies from Hewlett Packard in an effort to enhance their intellectual property portfolio. By purchasing the remaining elements of Palm's now-defunct mobile operating system, Amazon may be able to develop its own proprietary system and further distinguish itself in the marketplace.

"The value of IP related to mobile has gone up - even if there was no Palm device in the future, it would still be valuable," said market analysts from Stifel Nicolaus, according to the New York Times.

Although the extent of Palm's patent portfolio remains unclear, HP has previously suggested that the company is in possession of "significant IP assets," according to the Times.