Microsoft hits back at Google’s Patents Attack

Just when we were busy discussing Google’s patents attack report, Microsoft has hit back with an interesting reply. Although Microsoft, as a company, has not made in public statement on Google’s claims, Brad Smith, Microsoft General Counsel tweeted that they had asked Google to team up for the bidding process -

Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no.

Another Microsoftie, Frank Shaw, Microsoft Head of Communications, has given an advice to David Drummond -

Free advice for David Drummond – next time check with Kent Walker before you blog.

In case you don’t know, Kent Walker is a Senior Vice President & General Counsel at Google. Shaw also attached an image of his email conversation, which apparently happened between Smith and Walker -

Brad –

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you — I came down with a 24-hour bug on the way back from San Antonio. After talking with people here, it sounds as though for various reasons a joint bid wouldn’t be advisable for us on this one. But I appreciate your flagging it, and we’re open to discussing other similar opportunities in the future.

I hope the rest of your travels go well, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

– Kent

Now, this is something really interesting! Let’s see how Google reacts to its competitors.