Steve Jobs famously told his biographer Walter Isaacson that Android was “a stolen product,” adding, “I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.” But so far, the company has yet to target Google directly.
However, Apple’s $1.05 billion victory over Samsung regarding patent violations could potentially lead to similar legal action against Google, since Samsung’s devices used the Android operating system.
Google is more involved with making its own hardware today and new products are expected to result from the company’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility.
“And the jury in the Samsung trial found that features built into Android, and not just features added by Samsung, violated Apple patents — potentially forcing Google to adjust its software,” reports The New York Times.
“What it means for the Android folks is a very careful review, back to the drawing board, including a close examination of Apple’s stable of patents to weed out anything that looks risky in terms of violating the Apple portfolio,” says Charles S. Golvin, a Forrester mobile analyst.
“Google declined to comment on whether it would make changes to Android,” reports NYT. “But when it comes to features like tapping to zoom, it may have to ‘design around’ Apple’s patents and safeguard itself and its hardware partners, said Robert Barr, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley and former patent counsel for Cisco Systems.”
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