The rate at which the android platform is growing is fast, 500,000 devices being activated each day is not a simple thing. This means one thing to the 39 manufacturers profiting from android devices, and another to Apple and Microsoft, who have been sworn enemies from time immemorial. This hostility seems to have subsided or softened due to a new common enemy and we see Microsoft, Apple and Oracle suing android device makers over 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 Phone 7; and even suingBarnes & Noble, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung. Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it.
Says David Drummond, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Google
Drummond says the three companies intend to make it harder for manufacturers to sell android devices by fighting through litigation. Google is determined to preserve Android as a competitive choice for consumers, by stopping those who are trying to strangle it. They are looking for ways to reduce what they term as anti-competitive threats against Android by adding patents to their portfolio, to safeguard the cost for the android powered device.
