Microsoft sues Google directly in German Maps-on-Moto lawsuit

Microsoft is taking the rare step of suing Google directly for something, tacking it onto a lawsuit against Motorola Mobility over Google Maps.

Yesterday in Munich court, Microsoft's general counsel Dr Tilman Müller-Stoy told Moto that it was going to amend its complaint to add its parent Google as an additional defendant. Dr Müller-Stoy confirmed the move to The Register, but wasn't authorised to give any further information.

The hearing was the first in the complaint over a patent that deals with a computer system for identifying local resources, which is aimed at Google Maps. Most Moto mobes are already off the German market because of Redmond patent wins, but targeting Google itself could have much larger implications.

If Google is found guilty over Google Maps, it may have to either pull Android phones using the Maps or pull the app off its partners' smartphones.

Microsoft and other Android-moaners like Apple have so far only been suing Android-using manufacturers, not Google itself. Now that Google owns Moto, it's been helping out with legal problems a bit more directly, but this will still be the first time it has to defend itself. ®