Rockstar, the group that bought Nortel's patents in 2011 following the company's bankruptcy, has taken aim at Google, HTC, Samsung and Huawi for alleged patent infringement.
Google itself is accused of seven different counts of patent infringement relating to matching internet search terms with relevant advertising.
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Rockstar is owned by Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Ericsson and Sony, which means these major tech companies all control the patents. In 2011, as Nortel's bankruptcy situation continued, it opened up for offers on the patents. Google itself initially offered $900m, before engaging in a bidding war with the Rockstar coalition and offering $4.4bn for the patents at one point.
After losing to Rockstar, Google instead paid $12.5bn for Motorola Mobility, and inherited the defunct mobile device maker's patents.
Google has not yet publicly commented on the lawsuits, which are quoted as stating, "Despite losing in its attempt to acquire the patents-in-suit at auction, Google has infringed and continues to infringe".
Rockstar is becoming fairly notorious in the so-called "patent troll" industry, apparently employing full-time members of staff just to reverse-engineer various devices to try to discover patent infringements.
With Google owning so many patents of its own - including Motorola Mobility's additions - it seems likely that the search giant may choose to retaliate against some of the coalition's members in the near future.
