Many companies such as Samsung are buying up pools of patent licenses related to smartphone software just to be able to grab a piece of ownership of the intellectual property included in devices such as smartphones, he added.

Drummond noted that a smartphone is highly complex computer and radio technology that could generate as many as 250,000 patent claims by opponents, claims that he said would likely be "largely questionable."

The patent claims can lead to increased licensing fees that end up like a tax that makes Android device more expensive for consumers, Drummond said.

Drummond said Google is determined to fight patent claims, though he didn't say how. "We're determined to preserve Android as a competitive choice for consumers, by stopping those who are trying to strangle it," he wrote.

Google is "looking into whether Microsoft and Apple acquired the Nortel patents for anti-competitive means," he added.