Another day, another lawsuit filed over Android. British Telecommunications is suing Google over its popular mobile operating system, which seems to be the trend nowadays. Whether or not the newly acquired Motorola Mobility will be able to aid Google in the lawsuit with its patent portfolio is still in question, but it does come at a not so good time for the search giant, which translates to a pretty good time for British Telecom.
Here is a quick run down of the patents in question:
- U.S. Patent No. 6,151,309 on a “service provision system for communications networks”
- U.S. Patent No. 6,169,515 on a “navigation information system”
- U.S. Patent No. 6,397,040 on a “telecommunications apparatus and method”
- U.S. Patent No. 6,578,079 on a “communications node for providing network based information service”
- U.S. Patent No. 6,650,284 on an “information system”
- U.S. Patent No. 6,826,598 on a “storage and retrieval of location based information in a distributed network of data storage devices”
This certainly isn’t the first time Google has been under fire for patent infringements with Android and it’s definitely not the last. Google has already come out and stated that it would defend its partners using the Android OS and with Motorola Mobility under its belt, Google stands the best chance at defending itself. That still doesn’t mean it will be a walk in the park and MMI’s patent portfolio may not be able to defend Google from British Telecom’s claims.
It will be interesting to see Google’s move on this one. Though it will likely be quite a while before we hear any verdict on the lawsuit, we hope Google is prepared to defend itself and its OS from here on out, as it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any easier anytime soon.
[Via: Foss Patents]