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Google Says Rivals are Colluding to Hamper the Growth of Android

By Ng Chong Seng - on 4 Aug 2011, 10:06am

Google Says Rivals are Colluding to Hamper the Growth of Android

Google has lashed out at its rivals and accused them of colluding to hamper the growth of Android. This came after the company lost a bid to buy thousands of patents from bankrupt Nortel. The winning bid came from a consortium consisting of Apple, Microsoft, RIM and others.

As reported by Reuters:

In a rare public outburst, Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond blasted Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and "other companies" for colluding to hamper the increasingly popular Android mobile software by buying up patents, effectively imposing a "tax" on Android cellphones.

Drummond also said that Apple and Microsoft have teamed up to acquire patents from Novell and Nortel so that "Google didn't get them".

However, Microsoft's General Counsel Brad Smith disputed Drummond's side of the story regarding the Novell patents. He tweeted:

"Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no."

As the war in the mobile space heats up, we expect to see more companies trying to increase their patent portfolios, and quite possibly, more outpouring of emotions.

Source: Reuters

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