Normally we’d say naming a consortium ‘Rockstar’ was a bit big-headed. But when said consortium has companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sony, BlackBerry and Ericsson, it’s hard to disagree.
The group formed last year to buy up several thousand patents from Nortel, costing around $4.5 billion. The deal was cleared by the Department State of Justice on the grounds that the patents were used on “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, as well as their commitments not to seek injunctions in disputes involving SEPs.” Now its using some of those patents to hit out at Google among other companies.
The Rockstar consortium claims that Google has infringed upon seven of the patents concerning matching internet search terms to advertising. Elsewhere, a further set of patents are being used against Samsung, LG, Asus, HTC, Pantech, ZTE and Hauwei. Well, at least they’re picking of people their own size.
What will come of the lawsuits isn’t clear just yet, although we’re sure there’s going to be plenty more to report on this over the coming months.
Source: Tech Crunch
