The smart phone arena and its lure are such that they have prompted Google to erupt its feelings out for its competitors. And Google is not to be blamed much for the ‘public outburst of emotions’ for the reason that the developments in the last few months have been so.

In early July this year, Google lost to ‘Microsoft, Apple and group’ in the Nortel Patent Auction. This not only left Google behind them in the Telecom sector as far as the patent portfolio was concerned but also exposed to the risk of potential threatening lawsuits from its competitors.

And now, its much popular Android technology is under attack from all possible directions. The Android operating system is being targeted by various patent holders in an attempt to derail the software. And there are no points for guessing who could be the possible beneficiaries.

Top Android manufacturers, including Barnes & Noble, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung are facing lawsuits that have been waged against them by either Apple or Microsoft. The Chief Legal Officer for Google, David Drummond, says that while patents were designed to encourage innovation, "lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it." The Android mobile operating system has been an eye sore for many and David Drummond writes that Android’s success has yielded something else: a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents. What is worth noticing is that until some time back, Microsoft and Apple were considered to be sworn enemies. Then what compelled them to bundle together against Google?

Source: http://mychoicedelhi.blogspot.com/

Recently Google received a setback when it was fined $5 million in Texas for infringing on a patented algorithm within the Linux kernel.

Another interesting and related fact is that Google has bought more than a thousand IBM patents which is likely to double the number of patents held previously by the search giant.

In the midst of this wholesale market of patents, bulk buying and selling, it cannot be that these transactions are unrelated. This competition amongst the software and telecom has not developed overnight. So, it is the fear of patents trolls driving these companies in turn to hoard as many patents as they can as a defense strategy? Do these companies perform a due diligence over the bulk patents which they acquire in auctions or otherwise? And the most dangerous of them all is that after having acquired large patent portfolios, is this how much ugly it is going to get that we do not hear so much about innovation in ‘Intellectual Property’ news as much we read about the plethora of law suits around the globe? Teaming up and against gossip fills the Intellectual Property columns have been reduced to.

Another aspect regarding how Google finds itself left out and especially, being targeted against by arch rivals, is that do we see cartels being formed here? Could these be termed as anti-competitive strategies that could be challenged under Competition laws?

Yes, these are too many questions, and for the answers, we wait for time to tell.