Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • Servers

    Google, Microsoft Fire New Volleys in Patent Flame War

    By
    Clint Boulton
    -
    August 5, 2011
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) responded to Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) insinuations that Google didn’t participate in a bid for Novell patents because it wouldn’t help it protect Android, claiming Microsoft offered a “false gotcha.”

      Google Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice President David Drummond implicated Microsoft, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) in a broad patent conspiracy with an incendiary blog post Aug. 3.

      Drummond accused Microsoft and Apple of setting up patent consortiums to seize control of Novell and Nortel Networks patents. The companies colluded to keep patents away from Google so that they could attack Android, which has a 40 percent U.S. market share (comScore), and 50 percent worldwide (Canalys), he said.

      Mere hours after Drummond’s post published, Microsoft legal eagle Brad Smith and public relations head Frank X Shaw went on the offensive against Google via Twitter, painting Google’s protestations that it is being shut out of patent acquisitions — patents it has deemed “dubious” — as a case of a boy crying wolf.

      Shaw even shared this email, in which Google counsel Kent Walker politely declined Smith’s offer to join in the bidding for Novell patents back in October 2010.

      Drummond said Google turned down Microsoft’s offer to jointly acquire Novell patents because Microsoft’s objective has been to keep patents from Google and Android device makers that might be used to defend against their attacks.

      “A joint acquisition of the Novell patents that gave all parties a license would have eliminated any protection these patents could offer to Android against attacks from Microsoft and its bidding partners,”Drummond wrote in an update to his post August 4.

      “Making sure that we would be unable to assert these patents to defend Android – and having us pay for the privilege – must have seemed like an ingenious strategy to them. We didn’t fall for it.”

      The U.S. Department of Justice eventually required Microsoft to sell the patents it bought and ordered that the group, which includes Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and EMC, cede a license to the open-source community.

      “This only reaffirms our point: Our competitors are waging a patent war on Android and working together to keep us from getting patents that would help balance the scales,” Drummond concluded.

      Shaw returned to Twitter to fire back at Drummond Aug. 4: “We offered Google the opportunity to bid with us to buy the Novell patents; they said no. Why? Because they wanted to buy something that they could use to assert against someone else. So partnering with others & reducing patent liability across the industry is not something they wanted to help do.”

      Intellectual property expert Florian Mueller said he assumed Google, which with about 2,000 patents, is extremely patent deficient and therefore vulnerable in this litigious high-tech climate, would take the position that he did. Yet Mueller found it contrived given the circumstances.

      “I take issue with his repeated use of the verb ‘to defend’ when he means what I would call “to fight fire with fire,” Mueller told eWEEK. “Just imagine what it would have meant if Novell’s Linux-related and other patents or Nortel’s LTE standard patents had become strategic ammunition in Google’s hands. Android might have had a benefit from that, but the mess would have exacerbated.”

      Muller also questioned why Google, which has alleged the patents in question are bogus, wouldn’t use some of nearly $40 billion to squash those patents in court, “especially with the help of Quinn Emanuel’s patent litigation team, which is one of the best (if not the best) in the entire United States?”

      Clint Boulton

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×