Microsoft Launches Assault On Android Through Motorola

Microsoft Corp.  (NASDAQ: MSFT), which has failed to catch Google Inc.  (NASDAQ: GOOG) in search,  is now trying to battle it the in mobile operating systems market.  It’s a longshot at best.

The world’s largest software maker has filled patent infringement complaints against Motorola Inc.  (NYSE: MOT) over its sale of smartphones which use the Android OS made by Google with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and the International Trade Commission.  Nine patents covering basic smartphone functions such as synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power.

In a statement,  Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing said the company needed to protect the sanctity of its intellectual property.

“We have a responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard the billions of dollars we invest each year in bringing innovative software products and services to market,” he said in a statement. “Motorola needs to stop its infringement of our patented inventions in its Android smartphones.”

Pretty typical stuff.

For tech companies, patent lawsuits are as common as the rain in Seattle. Both Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL) have also claimed that Android smartphones are infringing on their patents. Firms do their best to avoid them because they are costly and time-consuming to litigate. Tech bloggers view these legal actions as proof that smartphone makers are worried about Android’s surging popularity.

“Last month, comScore said that Android was the only smartphone platform to see a market share gain in July, a five percent jump from April,” writes Sam Diaz of ZDNet. “At the same time, Windows Phone 7 – the platform for Microsoft’s next wave of smartphones – could be released as early as this month.”

The patent challenges may backfire because the more big companies challenge Android, the more the public seems to like it.

–Jonathan Berr