Microsoft has fired back at Google after being accused of collaborating with Apple to strangle Android smartphones, dpa reported. The accusation was leveled Wednesday by Google's chief legal officer David Drummond, who accused the two tech giants of plotting a "hostile, organized campaign" against Android using a portfolio of patents that they recently bought from bankrupt telecom equipment maker Nortel for 4.5 billion dollars. Their plan, according to Drummond, was to "strangle Android" by using "bogus patents" to force makers of smartphones using Google's Android operating system to pay them licensing fees. But in a decisive retort to Drummond, Microsoft executive Frank Shaw responded via Twitter Thursday that Microsoft had in fact reached out to Google to join the purchasing group but was summarily rebuffed. Shaw even quoted from the email sent by Google to Microsoft in which it declined the invitation. "After talking with people here, it sounds as though for various reasons a joint bid wouldn't be advisable for us on this one," Google's general counsel Kent Walker wrote in the email. "But I appreciate your flagging it, and we're open to discussing other similar opportunities in the future." "Free advice for David Drummond," quipped Shaw. "Next time check with Kent Walker before you blog." -- SPA
