Google Vents About Patent War With Apple, Microsoft

Google used its Official Blog on Wednesday to publicly kvetch about what it calls an “organized campaign against Android by Microsoft,Oracle,Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents.”

The author of the screed is David Drummond,senior vice president and chief legal officer, who starts off noting that he worked in tech for more than two decades, and here’s what he learned: “Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other’s throats.” That’s not true,as anyone who remembers their 1997 pact knows well.But in Drummond’s telling,the old rivals are suddenly “in bed together” in order to fight Google with patents.
The two titans — plus Oracle and other companies — have bought Novell and Nortel’s old patents “to make sure Google didn’t get them,” he says, and are seeking $15 for every Android device. The licensing fee makes it more expensive for phone makers to license Android (which is free) than Windows Mobile. “Patents are meant to encourage innovation,” Drummond writes, “but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it.”
Drummond goes on to charge Microsoft and Apple with inflating the price of Nortel’s patent portfolio, which he hints is likely to draw legal scrutiny. “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,” Drummond writes. “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.”
Despite Drummond’s insistence,many of Google’s patent troubles are of its own making. The company failed to take the bidding process for those Nortel patents seriously, instead using them as a forum for obscure math comedy. Since then, in a belated acknowledgment of the importance of intellectual property, Google has gone on a patent-buying spree of its own and hired Suzanne Michel, one of the Federal Trade Commission’s top patent lawyers.
Google also weakens its case by noting the runaway success of Android. If patent fees are really deterring phone manufacturers, why is Android closing in on 50% of the smartphone market?
The most notable thing about the blog entry is its directness: Google isn’t in the habit of calling out competitors by name.
What do you think of Google’s complaint? Let us know in the comments.