Update on Android Lawsuits

Apple likes lawsuits. Anyone who keeps keeps up with the mobile tech industry will tell you the same thing. More than a few Android OEMs have faced lawsuits from the Cupertino legal team, and unfortunately, sometimes those lawsuits have some pretty serious consequences.

Google’s stance on patents has always been relaxed, as opposed to Apple’s much documented “war” style when it comes to defending their patents.

Photo by Joi Ito

Summary: With engineers back at the helm’s top positions, Google steps further away from software patents and joins Red Hat’s opposition to them BACK when Google started defending Android from SCOracle, it did throw some hints that it would oppose software patents. Groklaw covered it thoroughly at the time.

We don’t normally report what’s going on in the world of Apple, but since they have been a thorn in everyone’s side with patent lawsuits, we though you might find this interesting.

Summary: Apple’s Godly hand strikes another manufacturer where phones of the ‘wrong’ brand were manufactured Apple has already resorted to lawsuits against Android (with Linux) and now we discover that a design issue — not an alleged patent violation — is being used by Apple to remove a Linux-based phone from the market.

  I think we can all agree the endless patent lawsuits aren’t good for consumers. Well, hopefully Apple and HTC have seen this light, as they confirmed they’ve settled their patent disputes and have entered a 10-year licensing deal to avoid more lawsuits.

America’s esteemed lawmakers want heavy penalties for those who abuse the patent system. A bipartisan bill has been proposed to force so-called patent trolls, those who hoard patents for the sole purpose of suing innovators, to pay the legal costs if their frivolous patent lawsuits fail in court.

Samsung has submitted a patent application with the USPTO late last year for a different method of handling folders in Android.

With patent lawsuits flying this way and that across the tech landscape, Microsoft has given the clearest hint yet that while it will litigate to protect patents in Google's Android operating system that it claims it owns, it is hesitant to take on Google.