The web giant’s chief legal officer, David Drummond, complained in a blog post that it was the target of “a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents”

Mr Drummond said the firms had formed alliances to buy the patent portfolios of Nortel and Novell, two companies that were previously leading technology innovators, in an attempt “to make it more expensive for phone manufacturers to license Android”.

The accusations follow news that Android handset manufacturers such as Samsung are being asked to pay a royalty of $15 per unit to Microsoft, even though Google provides the software for free.

Striking a conspiratorial tone, Mr Drummond said that "Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other's throats, so when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what's going on".

“A smartphone might involve as many as 250,000 (largely questionable) patent claims, and our competitors want to impose a “tax” for these dubious patents that makes Android devices more expensive for consumers,” he said.

(Source: The Telegraph)