Mobile lawsuits have been flinging back and forth through much of 2011, whether its Apple attacking Samsung repeatedly for its Android-powered Galaxy Tab 10.1 and smartphones, or Samsung fighting back with a 3G lawsuit against Apple. Apple even slammed Amazon with a lawsuit because its Android Appstore had a name much too similar to Apple's "App Store."

With so many patent lawsuits being thrown around recently, Google, maker of the Android operating system, bought over 1,000 patents in order to protect itself.

Jim Prosser, a spokesman for Google, confirmed this week that Google bought 1,023 patents from International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) on August 17, according to Bloomberg. Prosser, however, did not offer details on financial terms. 

Google recently bought 1,030 patents from IBM in July as well, and will likely obtain over 17,000 more patents with the $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility. Last month, Google even transferred nine patents it bought from Motorola Mobility and Openwave Systems to Android-powered handset maker HTC to aid in the lawsuit fight.

According to Google, it must buy these patents to protect itself in a "hostile" and "organized campaign" ran by tech giants like Microsoft and Apple. 

The free, open source Android operating system relies on some non-proprietary features that Google did not make, allowing users/developers to manipulate the code. This system allows for lawsuits from others who claim that Android was built "on the backs of research done by other technology companies."