Apple going after Google in tablet spats?

Apple Inc's increasingly effective patent war against rivals like Samsung Electronics may mask its real target: arch-foe Google Inc.

The maker of the iPad and iPhone has sued three of the largest manufacturers of Google's Android-based devices - Samsung, Motorola and HTC - for multiple patent infringements across multiple countries, pointing out 'slavish copying' of design and 'look and feel.'

And the courts are beginning to listen: recent success in blocking sales of Samsung's latest Galaxy tablet in most of Europe and Apple's challenges to the Korean giant in Australia reflect an aggressive effort to defend its top position in the red-hot mobile market from the runaway success of Android.

While the lawsuits don't take direct aim at the operating software - yet - many of the features under contention are connected to and enhanced by it. Apple CEO Steve Jobs once referred to the software as being the soul of any device when he introduced the company's iOS 5 system in June.

Brian Marshall, an analyst with Gleacher & Co, said Apple is starting to flex its patent muscle with some early success but its real battle is with the Android software. 'Apple doesn't really care too much about the actual OEMs.'

Apple's lead is now under siege in smartphones from Google's free Android software, already the world's most-used mobile system with 5,50,000 devices activated every day.

Its momentum could be hampered by successful patent infringement lawsuits against adopters like Samsung.

'The way Google gets sucked into it is through the marketplace,' Ron Laurie, managing director and patent consultant at Inflexion Point Strategy, said.

Any injunction won by Apple, if enforced, could mean that Android may be forced to take out the offending feature from its software design. 'That would make it less attractive and people would go elsewhere,' Laurie said.

Source : New Age