As the court battle between Samsung and Apple continues to grumble along in Silicon Valley, it has emerged that Google has been shouldering some of Samsung’s costs in the most critical of all the handset IPR face-offs for the strength of Android. As the world’s largest smartphone maker, Samsung scarcely seems to need Google’s handouts, but the alliance shows how the search giant, while avoiding direct confrontations (except those inherited with Motorola Mobility), has been working behind the scenes to fend off Apple’s attacks on its platform. According to CNET, a Google patent attorney, James Maccoun, authenticated leaked emails, exchanged by Samsung and Google in 2012. They stated that the search firm would “defend and indemnify” the Korean giant in…