When patents attack Android. 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. Here is what’s happening: Android is on fire. More than 550,000 Android devices are activated every day, through a network of 39 manufacturers and 231 carriers. Android and other platforms are competing hard against each other, and that’s yielding cool new devices and amazing mobile apps for consumers. But Android’s success has yielded something else: a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents. A smartphone might involve as many as 250,000 (largely questionable) patent claims, and our competitors want to impose a “tax” for these dubious patents that makes Android devices more expensive for consumers.
This anti-competitive strategy is also escalating the cost of patents way beyond what they’re really worth. Microsoft Fires Back With A Missile. Earlier today, Google came out swinging. Seemingly sick of being continuously slapped in the face by the patent issue, Google’s SVP and Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, wrote a blog post calling out several of Google’s rivals for attempting to use “bogus patents” to destroy Android. Chief among the rivals called out was Microsoft. Drummond noted that the software giant had been getting in bed with other rivals to hurt Google. Among the accusations was that Microsoft teamed up with Apple to buy Novell’s old patents, implying that they did so in order to keep them away from Google. Microsoft didn’t take too kindly to that remark. “Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Damn. Just in case that wasn’t enough, Frank Shaw, Microsoft Head of Communications, followed up with the real heat-seeker.
Brad –Sorry for the delay in getting back to you — I came down with a 24-hour bug on the way back from San Antonio. More: Why Did Google Blog About Patents Today? Google: Patently Absurd. Wednesday, 3 August 2011 David Drummond, Google senior vice president and chief legal officer, “When Patents Attack Android”: But Android’s success has yielded something else: a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents. 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; seeking $15 licensing fees for every Android device; attempting to make it more expensive for phone manufacturers to license Android (which we provide free of charge) than Windows Mobile; and even suing Barnes & Noble, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung.
Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it. So if Google had acquired the rights to these patents, that would have been OK. Google Should Publicly Oppose Software Patents - Timothy B. Lee - Disruptive Economics. Google publicly accuses Apple, Microsoft, Oracle of patent bullying. Get out the fire extinguishers, because the patent fight between the tech titans is heating up. On Wednesday, Google publicly accused Apple and Microsoft of banding together to take down Android, using their winnings from recent Novell and Nortel patent auctions as ammunition. In a post to the Official Google Blog, Google Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said that Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, and others have waged "a hostile, organized campaign against Android" by snapping up patents from Novell and Nortel and asking Google for high licensing fees for every Android device.
According to Drummond, the companies in question are attempting to "make it more expensive for phone manufacturers to license Android (which we provide free of charge) than Windows Mobile; and even suing Barnes & Noble, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung. " The timing of Google's post is quite appropriate. Update 3: Microsoft Corporate Communications Lead Frank X. Microsoft Responds To Google’s Response To Microsoft’s Response. If you thought that Microsoft and Google, two massive public companies, would quickly and quietly retire behind the scenes to continue their fight after their very public back-and-forth over the past couple of days, you’d be wrong. Well, maybe they are fighting behind the scenes too, but the pissing match continues in public as well.
Good for us! In the interest of covering both sides of the story (and certainly not because this storyline is full of great fodder, generating massive interest — and pageviews), here’s the latest retort from Microsoft. Once again, Microsoft’s head of communications, Frank Shaw, is firing back at Google’s head legal guy, David Drummond, for his most recent update to his blog post from yesterday. And Shaw is doing it again on Twitter. For those who have no idea what the hell I’m talking about, a refresher: Shaw’s most interesting Tweet in response reads as follows: Why? Hopefully that means another response! Until then, here are Shaw’s Tweets: Why Did Google Blog About Patents Today? Because The Nortel Loss Was Just The Beginning.
As you’ve undoubtedly seen by now, Google decided to go on the offensive today with regard to patents. No, they didn’t go after any company for violating their patents. Nor did they spend billions acquiring new ones. Instead, David Drummond, Google’s SVP and Chief Legal Officer, took to the Google Blog to lash out at Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, and others for using “bogus patents” to attack their Android mobile platform. But why now? In the past, Google has remained fairly mum on the topic. And they certainly weren’t calling out rivals by name. They’ve talked generally about the broken patent system, and even did a post explaining why they were willing to spend big money on the Nortel patents — for defensive purposes. When Google lost the Nortel bidding, they’re believed to have bid north of $4 billion before dropping out. Both Apple and Google have been looking into making bids to acquire InterDigital, according to multiple reports. The same is likely to be true here. Tiny step toward patent reform?
The public row between Microsoft and Google continues, with both Microsoft and Google issuing new responses to one another over Google's original accusation of patent bullying. The basic gist is this: Google says Microsoft's invitation for Google to join the Novell patent consortium was a "false 'gotcha! '" that would have put Android at a disadvantage, while Microsoft asserts that Google merely wanted to assert the same patents against others.
Both parties say that the other has not directly addressed their core arguments. The backstory Here's the quick summary of events up to this point: on Wednesday, Google Senior VP and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond made a post on the Official Google Blog accusing Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, and others of ganging up on Google and using the patent system to take down Android.
Microsoft was the first (and so far, only) one to respond to Google's accusations. The latest "If you think about it, it's obvious why we turned down Microsoft’s offer. Google Buys IBM Patents. Google buys Motorola for its patent portfolio. The Microsoft vs. Motorola patent case just took a new turn on August 15, with Google's announcement that it plans to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. Microsoft and Motorola have been warring over patents for the past several months. Microsoft sued Motorola on October 1, 2010, over alleged infringement of Motorola’s Android smartphones on Microsoft’s patents. On November 9, Microsoft sued Motorola again over wireless and video coding patents that are used by the Xbox and smartphones. In the latter case, Microsoft claimed that Motorola is charging excessive royalties for its patents. Motorola retaliated with its own countersuit on November 10, claiming infringement of 16 of its patents by Microsoft’s PC and server software, Windows Mobile and Xbox products.
Google execs cited patents as a key reason it is seeking to purchase Motorola. Update 1: Motorola split into two companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions, earlier this year. Google Bought Motorola for More Than Patents, Schmidt Says. Google Inc. (GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt said his company’s planned $12.5 billion purchase of smartphone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. was aimed at acquiring products, and not merely patents. “We did it for more than just patents,” Schmidt said in a conversation with Salesforce.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff. “The Motorola team has some amazing products.”
The deal was aimed at helping Mountain View, California- based Google expand in smartphones in a rivalry with Apple Inc. Schmidt also praised former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who stepped down last week, and said that he’s “proud” of his stint as an Apple director. “It’s certainly the best performance of a CEO in 50 years,” Schmidt said of Jobs. Schmidt was on Apple’s board while he was CEO of Google. To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Ricadela in San Francisco at aricadela@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net.