BT has opened up a lawsuit against Google in the US over several patents that it claims Android is infringing. The nature of the patents in question means that BT’s unlikely to stop there, however, and that Apple could be next in line.
The patents, with the exception of one, have all been held by BT since the 90s, making this an obvious tact by BT to suddenly try and monetise its old portfolio. They all deal with elements of Google’s Android mobile OS, including patents infringed by Google Maps, Google Music, Google Market and more.
The interesting thing though, is that in some cases the infringements that BT’s going after could just as easily be applied to Apple’s iOS or any other smartphone platform. One such staple of the mobile world is the ‘Busuioc Patent’, which allows your phone to know whether it’s connected to the internet, and then switches from 3G to WiFi streaming.
Both that and a similar patent pertaining to Google Maps are ones that BT could knock on Apple’s door about without worry. The current lawsuit is a US-only one and we’d expect that BT will take one battle at a time – if this goes in BT’s favour, it’ll likely bring the same legal smackdown to Europe.
But if all of the ensuing court battles go in BT’s favour, then we’d be very surprised if it didn’t start on Apple, Nokia and Microsoft shortly thereafter. If these patents are as far reaching as we’re led to believe, then BT could have the smartphone world eating out of its hand before too long.
