SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Google is beefing up its stable of in-house patent experts as it engages in billion-dollar intellectual property battles with rivals such as Oracle.

Allen Lo, the former vice president and deputy general counsel at Juniper Networks, will start next week as a deputy GC at Google, responsible for licensing and litigation issues. Lo's move was announced on Wednesday at an IP event at Stanford Law School, where Lo participated on one of the panels.

Patents have become increasingly crucial to the Internet search giant. In addition to fighting Oracle's allegations that Google's Android smartphone operating system infringes Java, Android partners such as Samsung and HTC are in a global patent fight with Apple. Google described its agreement to acquire Motorola Mobility last year partly as a move to expand its patent portfolio.

Google's current IP chief, Michelle Lee, isn't going anywhere. According to a person familiar with the situation, Lee is moving away from day to day running of patent matters, and into a more strategic role.

Lo worked at Juniper since April 2000, and was the first in-house IP lawyer hired at the company, according to his LinkedIn page. Representatives for Juniper declined a request for comment.

Lo will have no shortage of work in his new job. Beyond the smartphone wars, Lo said at Stanford that Google has about 100 active patent litigation matters, a majority of them brought against the company by non-practicing entities.

(Reporting by Dan Levine)

Follow us on Twitter: @ReutersLegal