Google files lawsuit against Apple, Microsoft backed Rockstar patent group

Google has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Apple and Microsoft backed consortium Rockstar, claiming that its patent campaign is unfairly targeting Google’s Android partners and customers.

The search giant has alleged that Rockstar's litigation campaign is placing a cloud on Google's Android platform and threatened its sales of Nexus-branded Android devices.

According to Cnet, the lawsuit stated that among the companies included in Rockstar’s patent dragnet are customers and partners of Google who use Android OS in their devices ASUS, HTC, Huawei, LG, Pantech, Samsung, and ZTE.

In October, Rockstar filed suits against Google and other companies over a host of allegedly infringing patents.

The report said that the tiff between Google and Rockstar date back to June 2011 when both the search giant and the consortium tried to purchase Nortel Network's 6,000 patent portfolio but Google eventually lost the bid.

Nortel's patents and patent applications encompassed technologies such as wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, Internet, and semiconductors, and Rockstar is speculated to sell off the Nortel Networks patents for being unable to broadly license them.