British Telecommunications plc claims that Google Inc. is infringing on a number of its patents in the latest international tech battle over intellectual property.
In a lawsuit filed this month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, London-based BT alleges that Google in infringing on six of its patents.
The Google products and services that infringe on BT's patents include storage, retrieval and delivery of location-based information through Google's search engines, the Android mobile operating system, Gmail, Google Maps and Google+ – the company's social networking platform – among other things, according to the lawsuit.
BT is demanding a jury trial and requesting monetary damages as well as an injunction against Mountain View, Calif.-based Google.
"Google has derived and will continue to derive substantial value from these products and services that incorporate BT's patented technologies," BT asserted in the lawsuit, which is available to read through a well-known blog that covers patent news and issues.
One of the patents – issued 11 years ago by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office – "is directed to systems and methods for accessing content in a mobile environment where network constraints vary across networks," the lawsuit asserts. Android and Google Music, which supports streaming music to desktop browsers, Android phones and other devices, infringe on the patent, BT has alleged.
A spokesperson for Google told BBC News that "these claims are without merit, and we will defend vigorously against them."
