Microsoft executive Tivanka Ellawala has insisted that Android does infringe on intellectual property patents – presumably, in relation to the ongoing lawsuit between Oracle and Google. At the Deutsche Bank Technology Conference in San Francisco, Tivanka Ellawala dismissed the idea that Android is a free platform, stating that “at the most simplistic level, the IP [intellectual property] issues around the Android situation and certainly the IP issues that we have discussed, it does infringe on a bunch of patents and there are costs associated with that. And this is not just an issue for us. It may also be an issue as some companies have already stated. So there is an upfront fee cost associated with Android that, I think, doesn't make it free."

He also warned that OEMs developing phones based on the Android platform, might face future litigation.