Rachel_Sandford
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British Telecom, popularly known as BT, has been in the mobile phone business for three decades. The company has heavily invested in mobile technology and has been applying and receiving patents well before the 1990s. They have an impressive portfolio of 5,600 patents and patent applications.
On Thursday, a BT spokesman announced that six of its key patents is being infringed by Google through its Android mobile OS. The patents include Google maps, location-based advertising, Google music, and other products and services such as being able to download music while connected to WiFi and being able to zoom into Google maps to get more detail.
Seeking “triple damages” for “willful and deliberate infringement,” a BT spokesperson issued a statement saying: “BT can confirm that it has commenced legal proceedings against Google by filing a claim with the US District Court of Delaware for patent infringement.
“The patents in question relate to technologies which underpin location-based services, navigation and guidance information and personalized access to services and content. BT's constant investment in innovation has seen it develop a large portfolio of patents which are valuable corporate assets.
“This is about protecting BT's investment in its intellectual property rights and innovation. It is a well-considered claim and we believe there is a strong case of infringement.”
Google responded with: “We believe these claims are without merit, and we will defend vigorously against them.”
The Android OS is the most successful smartphone platform in the world with 500,000 Android devices activated every day. If BT wins, Google may have to pay royalties for every smartphone they produce, similar to how HTC and Samsung have had to yield to patent claims by Microsoft. And with handsets making up more than 40% of global sales, billions of dollars are at stake.
To further complicate the situation for the search engine giant, Google is also fighting lawsuits from Apple, eBay, HTC, Gemalto, Microsoft, Oracle, and Samsung. Experts believe that all these lawsuits are an inevitability because of how fast Google has been growing.
“There is a lot of money and a huge market in the delivery of mobile phone services and there is a huge battle to achieve marketshare. In amongst this BT may have licensed its technology to some people and is not yet getting the royalties it wants. So there are a lot of battles over who gets what cut out of the market,” said Vicki Salmon, chair if the UK Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.
When asked to comment as to why BT hasn't announced legal action in Europe, to cover the local equivalents of Google Android, Salmon said: “If they get an injunction against Google in the States, in a sense it's cutting off the Hydra at its head. When you are looking at the sale of products sometimes you need to go around country by country and knock out each sale, but if you can knock out the manufacturing base then you don't have to litigate in each country.”
Florian Mueller, consultant and online patent expert commented on the issue saying: “BT probably wants to continue to be able to do business with all mobile device makers and therefore decided to sue Google itself.”
At present, no one can predict who the courts will favour. BT hasn't had a good track record for winning its patent suits, having lost its hyperlink suit against Prodigy Communications in 2002. Plus, Google's possible takeover of Motorola Mobility may complicate the matter as the company will acquire 17,000 patents, which may give them the chance to counter-sue BT if they find it has infringed any of Motorola's patents.
On Thursday, a BT spokesman announced that six of its key patents is being infringed by Google through its Android mobile OS. The patents include Google maps, location-based advertising, Google music, and other products and services such as being able to download music while connected to WiFi and being able to zoom into Google maps to get more detail.
Seeking “triple damages” for “willful and deliberate infringement,” a BT spokesperson issued a statement saying: “BT can confirm that it has commenced legal proceedings against Google by filing a claim with the US District Court of Delaware for patent infringement.
“The patents in question relate to technologies which underpin location-based services, navigation and guidance information and personalized access to services and content. BT's constant investment in innovation has seen it develop a large portfolio of patents which are valuable corporate assets.
“This is about protecting BT's investment in its intellectual property rights and innovation. It is a well-considered claim and we believe there is a strong case of infringement.”
Google responded with: “We believe these claims are without merit, and we will defend vigorously against them.”
The Android OS is the most successful smartphone platform in the world with 500,000 Android devices activated every day. If BT wins, Google may have to pay royalties for every smartphone they produce, similar to how HTC and Samsung have had to yield to patent claims by Microsoft. And with handsets making up more than 40% of global sales, billions of dollars are at stake.
To further complicate the situation for the search engine giant, Google is also fighting lawsuits from Apple, eBay, HTC, Gemalto, Microsoft, Oracle, and Samsung. Experts believe that all these lawsuits are an inevitability because of how fast Google has been growing.
“There is a lot of money and a huge market in the delivery of mobile phone services and there is a huge battle to achieve marketshare. In amongst this BT may have licensed its technology to some people and is not yet getting the royalties it wants. So there are a lot of battles over who gets what cut out of the market,” said Vicki Salmon, chair if the UK Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.
When asked to comment as to why BT hasn't announced legal action in Europe, to cover the local equivalents of Google Android, Salmon said: “If they get an injunction against Google in the States, in a sense it's cutting off the Hydra at its head. When you are looking at the sale of products sometimes you need to go around country by country and knock out each sale, but if you can knock out the manufacturing base then you don't have to litigate in each country.”
Florian Mueller, consultant and online patent expert commented on the issue saying: “BT probably wants to continue to be able to do business with all mobile device makers and therefore decided to sue Google itself.”
At present, no one can predict who the courts will favour. BT hasn't had a good track record for winning its patent suits, having lost its hyperlink suit against Prodigy Communications in 2002. Plus, Google's possible takeover of Motorola Mobility may complicate the matter as the company will acquire 17,000 patents, which may give them the chance to counter-sue BT if they find it has infringed any of Motorola's patents.