Google Attacks Microsoft and Apple on Patent Issues, War Is Brewing

It's been building up for a lot of time, but Google's and in particular Android's problem with patents is bubbling up lately. So much so that Google has decided to speak up and it doesn't mince words, accusing Microsoft, Apple and Oracle of conspiring to hassle Google and Android.

David Drummond, senior vice president and chief legal officer at Google, one of its leading lawyers, has posted a strong criticism of these companies and software patents in particular.

"Android’s success has yielded something else: a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents," Drummond says.

Drummond speaks about two recent cases, the very recent Nortel patents bid, which Google lost, and a batch of Novell patents, that Apple and Microsoft bought.

"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," he said.

He believes the two companies banded together to attack Android, by suing phone makers using the operating system and asking for a patent license from them, in Microsoft's case.

Interestingly enough, after the post went live, a couple of Microsoft people threw some light into the Novell case, indicating that the company asked Google to join the bid along with Microsoft, which Google declined to do.

Still, Drummond is now convinced that software patents, by and large, are bad and he wants them gone.

"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 said.

"We’re determined to preserve Android as a competitive choice for consumers, by stopping those who are trying to strangle it. We’re looking intensely at a number of ways to do that," he added.

Drummond believes that authorities will weigh in and put a stop to patent hording, since the Department of Justice is looking into the Nortel bid, at Google's request. But Google is also looking to bolster its own patent portfolio.

These are Google's strongest words on the matter to date and, while it seems that the company only started talking about patent reform when it became clear that the matter is adversely affecting it, it's clearly not the last we'll hear about this, the war is only starting.