As Apple moves to strike HTC this week, lunching the first sneak attack of the current phone wars, by accusing them of violating 20 of their iPhone patents related to hardware and software technology Google starts to get involved by stating:

“We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it,”

Apple seems to be heavily targeting the Android phone in a roundabout way, by not directly targeting Google and instead going after their partners. Apple is suing HTC over 20 patents in both the US District Court and the International Trade Commission as of March 2, 2010. Most of the patents have been issued in the past year, though they span a range from 1995 to February 2. Here are some of the patents in question:

• Patent No. 7,362,331: “Time-Based, Non-Constant Translation Of User Interface Objects Between States”
• Patent No. 7,479,949: “Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics”
• Patent No. 7,657,849: “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image”
• Patent No. 7,469,381: “List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display”
• Patent No. 5,920,726: “System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device.”
• Patent No. 7,633,076: “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices”
• Patent No. 5,848,105: “GMSK Signal Processors For Improved Communications Capacity And Quality”
• Patent No. 7,383,453: “Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor”
• Patent No. 5,455,599: “Object-Oriented Graphic System”
• Patent No. 6,424,354: “Object-Oriented Event Notification System With Listener Registration Of Both Interests And Methods”

The official response from HTC is:

“HTC is a mobile technology innovator and patent holder that has been very focused over the past 13 years on creating many of the most innovative smartphones. HTC values patent rights and their enforcement but is also committed to defending its own technology innovations. HTC only learned of Apple’s actions this morning via media reports, and therefore we have not yet had the opportunity to investigate the filings. Until we have had this opportunity, we are unable to comment on the validity of the claims being made against HTC.”

Though the lawsuit is directed at HTC is looks like Apple’s real target is the Android OS and the fact that Android has been the fastest growing mobile OS in the last year. Watch out Microsoft and partners, with the release of Windows Phone 7 Series coming later this year and the dip in market share that it will take on Apple I would expect to see more fillings as the Windows phones hit the market.