Most claims in Samsung case not tied to Android: Google

SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc, responding to a jury verdict that found its partner Samsung Electronics Co infringed Apple Inc patents, said most of the claims "don't relate to the core Android" software used in mobile devices.

"The court of appeals will review both infringement and the validity of the patent claims," Mountain View, California- based Google said in a statement sent yesterday via e-mail. "Most of these don't relate to the core Android operating system, and several are being re-examined by the US Patent Office."

Google, owner of the world's largest Web-search engine, lets mobile-phone manufacturers weave its Android operating system into their handsets at no charge. It suffered a setback on August 24, when a California jury said Samsung, the biggest user of Android, infringed Apple patents.

"This verdict is a major victory for Apple vis a vis the Android ecosystem," said Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein & Co, in a research report today. "That said, we don't think it is a game-changing loss for Android."

Google's shares decreased 2.1 per cent to $664.51 at 9:34 am in New York. The stock had gained 5.1 per cent this year.

The ruling is "likely to embolden Apple's legal strategy," Sacconaghi said. Litigation playing out in several countries may ultimately lead to Android phone makers paying royalties to Apple of $3 to $25 per handset or "forced work- arounds on violated patents, some of which could modestly change the look and feel of competing products."

Android's share among smartphone platforms rose to 64 percent in the second quarter from 43 per cent in the same period a year earlier, according to Stamford, Connecticut-based researcher Gartner Inc. Apple's software had a 19 per cent share, up less than a percent from the previous year.

"The mobile industry is moving fast and all players- including newcomers - are building upon ideas that have been around for decades," Google said in the statement.