Schmidt hits out over Android lawsuits

Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt has dismissed reports stating Android is in danger from a number of lawsuits, accusing the litigating companies as simply being 'jealous'.

HTC has recently lost out to Apple over a number of patent infringements from its smartphones, leading to speculation the whole Android system could be vulnerable.

However, speaking at Google's Mobile Revolution conference in Tokyo, Schmidt has stated that Google is confident in its innocence:

"The big news in the past year has been the explosion of Google Android handsets and this means our competitors are responding," he said, according to Perth Now.

"Because they are not responding with innovation, they're responding with lawsuits.

"We have not done anything wrong, and these lawsuits are just inspired by our success."

Going for the win

When pushed on whether Google will be supported HTC in the patent battle with Apple, ZDNet is reporting Schmidt replied: "We will make sure they don't lose, then", although refused to elaborate on how the search giant might support the phone manufacturer.

The patent battle looks set to rumble on between the big companies, and includes everything from the implementation of software to user interface gestures as smartphone use and patent protection both grow hugely popular.

Google is confident of success thanks to building the Android OS from the ground up based on a Linux kernel, but the key issues revolve around specific areas, such as pinching to zoom on pictures and websites, something Apple is claiming own the patent on.

If the lawsuits are upheld, it could severely disrupt the momentum Android has built up (latest figures suggest 550,000 devices activated each day) as Google hastily re-creates the OS legally – but the likelihood is the litigation will drag on over a few years and a settlement will be reached over the more ambiguous terms.