According to by Fortune Brainstorm Tech, a Tuesday report by Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner suggests that Microsoft may likely offer a helping hand to HTC and other mobile device manufacturers taken to court by Apple.

As per Reiner, the patent infringement lawsuit that Apple filed against HTC last week, alleging the violation of 20 iPhone-related patents, is actually a shot across Google’s bow - largely because HTC was the first firm to start working with the supposed iPhone-challenger, Google Android operating system, and had fervently supported the platform the early days of its emergence.

Ever since HTC has been served with legal papers from Apple, industry-watchers are of the opinion that the key reason why the Taiwanese company is being targeted by Apple is its close association with Google.

With Apple’s legal fluster against Android backers apparently making some of the other OEMs jittery about their Android plans, Microsoft is probably viewing the situation as an opportunity to look for Windows Phone 7 partners!

Noting that Microsoft has started “aggressively promoting” its own patent portfolio as well as its ability to protect its customers, Reiner said in the report: “Our checks indicate that Microsoft has been quick to sniff out this burgeoning opportunity and has begun to aggressively promote the strength of its own IP portfolio, as well as its willingness to join battle with customers that come under IP attack.”