Google on Wednesday accused Apple, Microsoft, and other tech giants of trying to "strangle" Android with its coordinated patent purchases and pledged to "intensely" defend its mobile OS through patent purchases of its own and opposition to what it considers anti-competitive patent bids.
"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," David Drummond, senior vice president and chief legal officer at Google, wrote in a blog post.
Specifically, Drummond took issue with rivals buying patents from Novell and Nortel.
Last month, a consortium of tech rivals purchased 6,000 wireless technology patents held by Nortel. Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, Research in Motion, and Sony joined forces to purchase the patents, which cover wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, Internet, service provider, semiconductors, and other patent portfolios. In April, Google said it would make a "stalking horse" bid worth $900 million for the Nortel patents in order to bulk up its patent portfolio. But rivals like Microsoft, AT&T, and Verizon argued that the patents would give the search giant an unfair advantage, and Google eventually lost out.
Microsoft and Apple also teamed up to purchase patents from Novell, along with Oracle and EMC. The Justice Department, however, required them to alter the deal because "as originally proposed, the deal would jeopardize the ability of open source software, such as Linux, to continue to innovate and compete in the development and distribution of server, desktop, and mobile operating systems, middleware, and virtualization products," DOJ said.
"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," Google's Drummond quipped today.
Drummond suggested that Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, and others are waging " a hostile, organized campaign against Android." They went after the Novell patents "to make sure Google didn't get them" and are "fighting through litigation ... instead of competing by building new features or devices."
Microsoft holds patents relating to navigation and how Web sites display content; technology used on the Android platform As a result, Redmond has gone after several high-profile companies who failed to sign licensing agreements with Microsoft, including Samsung, Motorola, and Barnes & Noble.
Drummond said this makes it more expensive for phone manufacturers to license Android than Windows Mobile. "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 wrote. "They want to make it harder for manufacturers to sell Android devices."
It also unnecessarily drives up the price of buying patents, he said. "Microsoft and Apple’s winning $4.5 billion for Nortel’s patent portfolio was nearly five times larger than the pre-auction estimate of $1 billion."
Drummond denied that Google was 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." To that end, Google will continue to try and bulk up its patent portfolio, Drummond concluded. " Unless we act, consumers could face rising costs for Android devices — and fewer choices for their next phone."
Update: Microsoft hit back at Google's patent allegations Wednesday night, arguing that it asked Google to jointly bid on the Novell patents.