British Telecom is the latest major company to sue Google over patents — it filed a lawsuit in Delaware last week alleging that nearly every Google product and service infringes at least one of six patents, including Google Search, Android, AdSense, Gmail, Google+, Google Docs, Google Music, and Google Maps. The patents themselves are all somewhat older, with some dating back to 1998, and they're all quite broad — for example, #6,397,040 reads on nearly any service that uses your location to tailor a list of options or sources. That makes the case much, much bigger than any of the Android lawsuits we've seen previously, which, apart from the Oracle case, have almost all been directed at OEMs like Samsung and HTC; BT is going right after what it calls "ongoing and pervasive" patent infringement in Google's core web products and services.

Given the scope of the patents and the wide swath of Google's core services the lawsuit covers, it's almost certain that BT and Google tried and failed to reach any sort of licensing agreement before BT gave up and filed this lawsuit — we'll see if Google decides to fight this one out or head back to the negotiating table.