British Telecom filed the lawsuit in Delaware, in the US, relating to six patents, allegedly infringed on by Google Maps, Google Music, location-based advertising and Android Market products.
If BT is successful, Google or mobile handset makers might have to pay BT royalties on each Android handset in use and which they produce.
The claims add to intellectual property claims already mounted on Google by Apple, Oracle, Microsoft, eBay and Gemalto, a digital security company. They could be repeated in Europe.
A number of handset makers including HTC and Samsung have yielded to patent claims by Microsoft against Android and are paying a per-handset fee for every one they make.
Android is currently the most successful smartphone platform in the world, reaping more than 40 per cent of sales.
The alleged infringements made by Android would also seem to apply to Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices, such as the “Busuioc Patent”. It detects whether a mobile device is connected to a cellular or Wi-Fi network and allows streaming dependent on that.
BT has a long history in the mobile business, having been one of the original providers of mobile phone services with the Cellnet joint venture in the UK in the 1980s.
Its lawsuit indicates it is trying to monetise its patent portfolio over web use.
