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Android is under attack from patent vultures
THE INCREASINGLY POPULAR mobile operating system Android is under attack from all sides, according to one of Google's legal experts, and faces a real challenge from the consortium that bought Nortel's patents
That consortium is made up of some unlikely bedfellows, not least of all the curious pairing of Microsoft and Apple. This gathering of dark forces has the big software company concerned.
"I have worked in the tech sector for over two decades. Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other's throats, so when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what's going on," writes David Drummond, SVP and chief legal officer.
Drummond said that Android was becoming more and more popular and winning more and more users, however he added that its successes were being tarnished.
"Android's success has yielded something else: a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents," he explained.
"They're doing this by banding together to acquire Novell's old patents (the 'CPTN' group including Microsoft and Apple) and Nortel's old patents (the 'Rockstar' group including Microsoft and Apple), to make sure Google didn't get them."
Referring to earlier reports, Drummond added that these Rockstars could demand a $15 license fee for every Android device be placed in their rider once they take control of their patents.
"Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it," he added.
"Our competitors want to impose a 'tax' for these dubious patents that makes Android devices more expensive for consumers. They want to make it harder for manufacturers to sell Android devices. Instead of competing by building new features or devices, they are fighting through litigation."
Drummond added something that we have all started to work out for ourselves, particularly if you followed the Nortel auction, that patent land grabs are raising the cost of intellectual property.
"We're not naive; technology is a tough and ever-changing industry and we work very hard to stay focused on our own business and make better products," he continued.
"But in this instance we thought it was important to speak out and make it clear that we're determined to preserve Android as a competitive choice for consumers, by stopping those who are trying to strangle it."
This is becoming a recurring theme at Google. At the end of June general counsel Kent Walker likened the patent buying game to a battlefield. "The tech industry has a significant problem," he said. "Software patents are kind of gumming up the works of innovation."
"We want to make sure Google and the companies Google partners with aren't shut out of the opportunity to bring great new products and features to consumers... We'll be fine. We have the resources to balance the scales here."
Google, which we should have mentioned earlier is fighting Oracle over Java patents in Android, is doing all it can to balance the scales, and just last week bought 1,000 patents from IBM. µ
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THE BATTLE BETWEEN MS AND APPLE IS OVEREXAGGERATED, SAME LIKE THE (PHONEY) BATTLE BETWEEN COKE AND PEPSI.
google need to pay the price. with youtube, they're making lot of money most of the times with videos that are pirated. good to see microsoft and apple ganging up. although, microsoft and apple are evil companies, google is not a saint either.
I don't mind stupid patents as long as they are limited to max. 3 years before they are free to use.
Google has really stepped in it in a big way. Android violates Java patents and Google KNEW it. This can mean triple damages. This is the thing you never do-it is better not to know about the opposing patent.
Besides that, it is not difficult to license Java, Google just did not want to pay Oracle even a small fee.
Drummond's blog was just a rant-basically he is screwed and about stuff that he could do nothing about. He is never going to get Larry Ellison to back down on this one.
Doesn't matter whether you like Android or iOS or Windows, you still need Java and Google tried to avoid paying for it.
HAHAHAHAHA! How rich is that, when the members of this patent cartel have themselves been REPEATEDLY found guilty of infringing others’ patents? Who are the hypocrites here, exactly?
The only good news I see is that they paid such a ridiculous amount for these patents, they will never make it back no matter how extortionate they try to be in their “licensing” protection racket.
Maybe that was what Google had in mind all along...
Stop stealing others hard work and you won´t have to worry about anything!
It´s like my neighbor getting mad at me because I called the cops on him when he was trying to steal something in my property!
Have the tables of morality have turned for Google?
I love my android system. Apple & MS can stick their products where the sun don't shine. They're a bunch of money-grabbing aholes.
"They're doing this by banding together to acquire Novell's old patents (the 'CPTN' group including Microsoft and Apple) and Nortel's old patents (the 'Rockstar' group including Microsoft and Apple), to make sure Google didn't get them."
I'm glad to see this article being so balanced, but since you seem to be busy on your knees with Google I guess you didn't read Microsoft's response. Microsoft actually invited them to join in with a joint bid but Google turned them down:
Taken from slashgear and other sites:
According to Brad Smith, the general counsel of Microsoft, Google refused to join the group bidding on the Novell patents, instead bidding separately for the collection of patents in hopes that it could win them all for itself, just as had earlier done on a portfolio of around 1,000 patents from IBM.
In a tweet, Smith stated, "Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no."
In an email, a response from Google general counsel Kent Walker to Microsoft’s Smith, specifically mentions the patent purchase olive branch that was extended, but which Google declined. “After talking with people here” Walker writes, “it sounds as though for various reasons a joint bid wouldn’t be advisable for us on this one.”
Sounds like Google is not talking amongst themselves as if they did would have avoided this embarrassing public display.