Last night things got pretty good on Twitter with Brad Smith, Microsoft General Counsel, [tweeting](https://twitter.com/#!/BradSmi/status/98902130412355585):

>Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no.

Followed by a [Tweet](https://twitter.com/#!/fxshaw/status/98932077327691776) from Frank Shaw, Microsoft Head of Communications, that included a screenshot of an email exchange turning down the offer to partner up on buying the patents.

Kudos to Microsoft for having the balls to respond in this way — it may not be a savvy move in the end, but it is a great PR move in the short term.

I do however think that MG Siegler has the best explanation of what is happening with Google and patents right now (which is why I have this post linking to him):

>And it reinforces something that many observers think about Google’s position here: that they simply weren’t taking the patent situation too seriously until recently, and now they’re all up in arms about it.