Apple lawsuits slammed by Google, says it will defend HTC

Google chairman Eric Schmidt has slammed Apple's lawsuit against HTC, saying that Apple's actions are borne out of jealousy, and that Google will provide support to HTC in its legal battle, Perthnow reports.

Speaking in Tokyo at the Google Mobile Revolution conference, Schmidt said that Apple's lawsuits against Android phone manufacturers such as Samsung and HTC are "just inspired by our success".

"The big news in the past year has been the explosion of Google Android handsets and this means our competitors are responding," Schmidt said. "They are not responding with innovation, they're responding with lawsuits."

The remarks echo Steve Jobs' own comments when Apple first sued HTC: "We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

On Friday a judge ruled that HTC was infringing upon two of Apple's patents. If the decision is upheld, it could be disastrous for HTC and for other manufacturers who build Android phones, because the two patents in question are reportedly core to the Android operating system.

Samsung is also stuck in a legal battle with Apple. JobsCo is trying to stop the sale of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet (which runs Android Honeycomb) in the US.

When Schmidt was asked whether Google would provide financial support to HTC, our sister site CNET.com reckons he said, "We will make sure they don't lose, then."

That's hardly conclusive, but HTC will be happy to hear that Google is willing to offer some form of support. Of course, Google has a significant stake in HTC winning the legal fight -- HTC was a key manufacturer in making Android huge, and upcoming Android mobiles such as the HTC Evo 3D will be a big part of spreading Android's fame.

Can Google save HTC from Apple's wrath? Let us know what you think of this whole sorry debacle in the comments, or on our Facebook page.