Google is Now Joining Forces with Samsung in Appeals Fight versus Apple

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It's about time! Google will now be teaming up with Samsung to fight the appeal the Korean company is bringing against the Apple patent victory. Google won't just be lending witnesses and testimony either; they are planning to go all out in this last fight against Apple. Google will also be providing a legal team, will share in the legal costs, and will even share in the damages should Apple win.

Google will even be taking over the defense of some of Apple's claims as they pertain to specific Android features. Here's a quote with the details,

Google agreed to “provide partial or full indemnity with regard to four patents” and defend against them, Google lawyer James Maccoun revealed in a deposition preceding the trial when he verified an email exchange between Samsung and Google on the matter.

“Maccoun’s testimony included references to a variety of emails between Google and Samsung between May and December of 2012 detailing Google’s willingness to take on Samsung’s legal defense,” Re/code writes. “Apple also read into the record a Samsung response from September 2012 in which it said that it was not seeking indemnification from any party.”

Two Apple patents were later dropped, with Google now having to defend and compensate Samsung in case of a loss for just two patents, the ‘414 and ‘959 patents that cover background synchronization and universal search, respectively. Even so, it’s not clear how much Google is paying for defense, and how much it would pay Samsung in case Apple wins any damages on those patents.

Google has to help with Samsung’s defense partly because of the “Mobile Application Distribution Agreement” Samsung signed in order to be able to preload Google apps on its Android devices. However, Google is likely to offer compensation for its proprietary apps only, including Google Search or Gmail, that are found on Samsung’s devices, rather than on the open source parts of the code.

It's interesting how Apple never attacked Google directly, but instead went after all of its partners. As you can see, it looks like Apple finally awoke the slumbering dragon. Of course, Apple is a dragon too, and with an even bigger treasure horde than Google. It will be interesting to see how this titanic fight finally finishes.

Source: BGR