The Rockstar Consortium which bought up Nortel's patent portfolio in 2011 is gearing up for a patent showdown against Android.
The consortium has filed lawsuits against Google, Samsung and the other prominent members of the Android ecosystem, alleging that Android infringes seven smartphone patents, BBC News reported.
Rockstar's members include Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Ericsson and Sony. The companies teamed up to outbid Google for Nortel's patent horde, paying a combined $4.5 billion.
According to All Things Digital, the consortium last week filed a total of eight lawsuits against Google, Samsung, LG Electronics, HTC, Huawei, Asustek, Pantech and ZTE. These companies make up the majority of the Android ecosystem.
Google's attempt to purchase the Nortel portfolio will make it harder to argue that the patents allegedly infringed by Android have no value.
Losing out to Rockstar for the Nortel portfolio and Android's relatively weak patent position is thought to be a key factor behind Google's decision to acquire Motorola Mobility in 2012 for $12.5 billion. But the purchase has arguably not provided the level of protection Google may have been anticipating.