Google is Getting Sucked Into Apple and Samsung's Patent Dispute

Apple's AAPL lawyers may have been apprehensive about attacking Google GOOG over the creation of the Android operating system, but it might have found a way to slowly pull the company into court. According to Bloomberg, Apple has asked a judge to "force Google to turn over documents related to its Android operating system." The Cupertino, California-based tech giant believes that Google is "improperly withholding information about what terms it's using to find the documents Apple has requested in pretrial information sharing." Apple went even further, stating that Android is used in all of the Samsung products named in the company's second domestic lawsuit. Ultimately, Apple wants whatever info it can obtain to bolster its case against its South Korean competitor. If semi-secret Google info proves to be a smoking gun, Apple wants to be able to pull the trigger. Up until this point, Google has been kept out of most patent disputes. Before Apple and Samsung's first domestic trial concluded last year, Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry told Benzinga that he expected the two tech giants to form various cross-licensing agreements. "Whatever may be the jury verdict, the most probable outcome will be a protracted negotiated settlement on cross-licensing with all the parties involved, namely Apple, Samsung and Google, with little or no money changing hands," Chowdhry said in August 2012. Chowdhry's prediction has yet to come true, though money has yet to change hands. Apple won just over $1 billion in the company's first massive verdict against Samsung. Hoping to eliminate the verdict, Samsung asked for a new trial. Judge Lucy Koh eventually denied this request, but she did order a new trial to determine if Samsung should pay more or less than the $1 billion verdict. That trial has yet to occur, but Koh did move ahead and reduce the damages to roughly $550 million. By the time this particular battle is over, Apple and Samsung might finally be ready to settle. They might be too distracted to care, however, since another domestic trial will have already begun. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ