Manufacturers of high-tech devices and software often start litigation against competitors in the struggle for the consumer. Any means are good in this fight, including allegations of patent infringement. Experts estimate that the patent litigation brought to a close is costing both sides of the conflict several million dollars. Do not lag behind each other in the patent fight and the companies Google and Microsoft.
It has become a tradition for manufacturers of operating systems and other software to sue each other for patent violations. Not so long ago, Microsoft secured a ban on the sale of Motorola Android tablets and smartphones. Microsoft experts saw a competitor's mobile devices as a violation of its patent for creating group schedules and meeting requests.
Google has shown interest in this issue, considering that Microsoft is playing an unacceptable game with patents, which objectively harms the Android operating system used in mobile devices. The conflict was caused by about two thousand patents, more than half of which protect the basic functions of operating systems used in modern mobile devices. In the fall of 2011, Microsoft sold these patents to Mosaid, an intellectual property royalty collector.
If Google were silent about this sale, then its patent royalties would increase several times, which would inevitably lead to an increase in prices for smartphones with the Android operating system installed on them. As long as Google allows the operating system to be installed for free, the patent royalties are borne by the hardware makers, strengthening Microsoft's market share.
Google decided not to wait for the unfavorable development of events and filed a complaint with the antitrust authorities of the United States and the European Union. It is possible that Microsoft and Google will face a protracted patent war. If Google is denied the lawsuit, the Android operating system is unlikely to start losing some of its users, since it has managed to please consumers with its flexibility and reliability.
