Google iPhone-maker has accused Apple of using ' fake patents» to make Android phones more expensive. Photo: Kimberly White/Reuters/CorbisGoogle has Applescript, accused Microsoft, , Oracle and "other businesses" to try to make Android smartphones more expensive for consumers by running a "hostile, organised campaign" against it by using "fake patents" acquired from bankrupt Canadian firm Nortel and their existing patent holdings.
Its chief legal officer David Drummond, argue that companies that effectively imposes a "tax" to push the price of Android devices. "Microsoft and Apple have always been in each other's throats, so that when they get in bed together you need to start asking what is going on," Drummond wrote in a blog post.
But Microsoft has hit back, with its General Counsel Brad Smith argues on Twitter to Microsoft invited Google to bid jointly for Nortel patents – and were beaten. Representatives from Apple and Oracle declined to comment on.
Drummond says that the rival companies are using an "anticompetitive strategy, [who] escalates also cost of patents is way beyond what they are actually worth" and use them to stifle innovation.
Drummond writes that "in this instance, we trøde, it was important to speak out and make it clear that we are determined to preserve the Android as a competitive choice for consumers, by stopping those who try to stifle it."
He has stated: "Microsoft and Apple's winning $ 4.5bn (£ 2.7bn) to Nortels patent portfolio was almost five times greater than the pre-auction estimate of $ 1 billion. Fortunately, the law frowns on accumulation of questionable patents for anti-competitive funds – which means these agreements will probably draw regulatory control, and this patent bubble will pop. "
A consortium, including Microsoft, Apple and RIM won the bid for Nortel patents, which covers a number of communications technologies, from a consortium of Google and Intel. Google had made a preliminary bid of $ 900 m before the auction, but was ultimately outbids despite large reserves of cash.
Drummond says: "a smartphone can cause as many as 250,000 (mostly doubtful) patent claims, and our competitors want to impose a charge for these questionable patents that make Android devices more expensive for consumers. They want to make it harder for manufacturers selling Android devices. Instead of competing by building new features or devices, struggling through litigation. "
Microsoft has sued Motorola and Barnes and Noble, argue that their use of Android infringes patents that it holds, while Apple has filed a number of similar suits abandoned patent claims against other companies.
HTC has admitted that it pays Microsoft for a set amount for each Android device it sells. The amount was not disclosed, but it is believed to be between $ 5 and $ 15.
Apple recently won a preliminary ruling in the United States that HTC is infringing patents covering the iPhone. And Oracle is currently suing Google in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit on that Android infringes copyright concerning its Java programming language, acquired through the purchase of Sun Microsystems.
Google launched its Android mobile operating system at the end of 2007, with the first phones appear about a year later. It makes it available for free handset makers, in contrast to companies like Microsoft, which charges about $ 15 per handset by using its Windows softwareyour phone.
Android phones have exploded in popularity, makes more than a third of all smartphones sold around the world. Platform has expelled the former leader Nokia, which abandons its Symbian operating system in favor of Windows phone. Apple and rim have their own mobile operating systems, as they are not licensed.
Google has been hampered by a lack of intellectual property in wireless telephony, which has subjected it to patent-infringement lawsuits from rivals such as Oracle.
Drummond says Google is seeking to strengthen its patent portfolio; It recently bought more than 1,000 patents from IBM. It is also in negotiations to buy the InterDigital, a key holder of the wireless patents valued at more than $ 3bn, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The most valuable patent it uses include its "PageRank" search algorithm that is used to organize its search results: it has an exclusive license to from Stanford University, where Sergey Brin and Larry Page developed the PageRank patent. Although is now available for licensing, has Google rights to decide who can license it.
Patent acquisitions is expected to accelerate, with IBM and Kodak is often referred to as shopping for intellectual property on the market.
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