It surely doesn’t come as any great surprise that Google will support HTC in its legal battle with Apple, but the company made it official tonight. What may come as a surprise is that Google proactively contacted TechCrunch with the statement. “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,” Google said in an email sent to TechCrunch.

I can tell you that it’s not very often that a company will contact the press with a supporting statement for a lawsuit that its not even involved in. Well, they aren’t involved directly.

Many believe that Apple’s lawsuit against HTC is just another way of getting at Google without directly suing the company. Many of the devices included in the lawsuit run Google’s Android operating system.

Apple filed its lawsuits against HTC earlier today. A total of 20 patents are included in the suit filed in Delaware and with the International Trade Commission.