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Google sued by BT over Android OS

British Telecom has now entered the legal fray over smart phone patent infringement, lashing out at Google’s Android. The telecommunications giant is suing Google for billions of dollars over claims the Android operating system infringes on a number of its key patents, adding to the intellectual property actions already taken by Apple, Oracle, Microsoft, eBay and Gemalto against Mountain View. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for Delaware and relates to six patents, which BT said are infringed by Google Maps, Google Music, location-based advertising and Android Market products on Android. According to the lawsuit, “BT brings this action to recover the just compensation it is owed and to prevent Google from continuing to benefit from BT’s inventions without authorization.” The filing goes on to name a number of US patents BT applied for and, except for one, were granted in the 1990s, which it alleges Android is infringing on. If successful, the suit could mean Google or the mobile’s handset makers will have to pay BT royalties on each Android handset in use and that is produced. That could be expensive business – Android is currently the bestselling smartphone globally, with its handsets making up more than 40 per cent of sales and more than 40 million produced every quarter. Florian Mueller, an independent expert who closely follows international patent litigation, said: “Android already had more than enough intellectual problems anyway. Now Google faces one more large organisation that believes its rights are infringed

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Google sued by BT over Android OS