Google is fighting back against Rockstar, the Apple and Microsoft-backed patent outfit that recently took aim at the Android mobile operating system.
In October, Rockstar filed patent infringement suits against Google and several of its Android hardware partners, and this week, Google filed a countersuit, arguing that Android does not infringe Rockstar's patents and that its lawsuits are damaging the Android brand.
Rockstar controls a host of patents that Apple, Microsoft, Blackberry, and others acquired from the bankrupt Nortel Networks last year, out-bidding Google along the way. With its countersuit, Google claims that Rockstar has "placed a cloud on Google’s Android platform," and the web giant aims to shield its partners -- including Asustek, LG and Samsung -- from the company's attacks, as originally reported by GigaOM.
Rockstar claims that Android mobile devices infringe on several of its patents, including those involving data connection sharing (aka mobile hotspots), messaging, and notifications, but Google says this is not the case and points out that Rockstar doesn't practice any of its patents. In other words, it's calling the company a patent troll.
Although Rockstar filed its suits in Texas, Google filed the countersuit in San Jose, California, arguing that the case should be moved. Texas has become a hotbed of patent lawsuit activity, due to its friendliness towards litigators, so it's only natural that Google would want to case relocated.
Although Rockstar has been using its patents to file multiple lawsuits and pressure companies for licensing fees, Bloomberg reports that the consortium has sold some of its patents to a company called Spherix and is currently considering more patent sales.
