Google faces $125m claim after Android found to infringe patent

Google's Android software such as this on the Moto X infringes SimpleAir's patents, a jury decided. Photograph: Piero Cruciatti/Demotix/Corbis

Google faces a $125m damages claim over push notification functionality in Android after a jury decided that it infringes patents owned by SimpleAir, a Texan company.

The decision is believed to be the first time that a US court ruling has gone against Android as software, rather than a handset manufacturer such as HTC or Samsung which has implemented Google's software in a physical device.

In a verdict handed down on Saturday, a jury decided that Android's push notification services for Android smartphones and tablets infringes five claims of a patent owned by SimpleAir, formed in 2004 by two former staff from a company called AirMedia which went bankrupt in 1999. They bought the patents that that company had filed.

SimpleAir is already suing other Android handset manufacturers including Samsung, Google-owned Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and HTC, as well as Microsoft and Nokia.

SimpleAir previously sued Apple, which settled a suit in May 2012 that had been filed in 2009. It also sued BlackBerry, which settled in April 2012.

Because the jury did not agree on how much to award in damages, a limited second trial will be held to determine the amount. SimpleAir said in a press release that it will seek $125m, though it did not specify how it had calculated the amount.

The patent found to have been infringed is US 7,035,914 , which describes "a system and method for data communication connecting on-line networks with on-line and off-line computers". In effect it describes "push" notifications which are sent out to devices when new information arrives at a server. It was filed in July 1999, and published in April 2006.

SimpleAir said that Google Cloud Messaging and Android Cloud to Device Messaging infringed the patent: "the services are used by Google to process and send instant notifications for Android applications, such as Facebook, Twitter and Gmail," the company said.

SimpleAir didn't return a call asking for comment. Google said that it had no comment on the decision.