Back in 2010, when Google launched its Nexus One smartphone, the web giant had a run in with a woman called Isa Dick Hackett. She claimed that the use of the Nexus name was a "clear infringement" on intellectual property rights belonging to her estate.

You see, Isa is the daughter of an author called Philip K. Dick, a science fiction writer well known for books such as Ubik, Minority Report, and Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? Isa, along with two other siblings, run the estate of their now deceased father, who rose to posthumous fame after the release of Ridley Scott’s 1982 Hollywood adaptation of ‘Electric Sheep’, Blade Runner.

Nexus, as Google started naming its smartphones, was also the name of the line of Androids in the book ‘Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?’ and subsequently Blade Runner.

Isa believed that Google clearly referenced her father’s work in deciding the name of its new device range, but it never contacted the Philip K. Dick estate for permission to use the word.

She said: "Google takes first and then deals with the fallout later.

"In my mind, there is a very obvious connection to my father’s novel. People don’t get it. It’s the principle of it.

"It would be nice to have a dialogue. We are open to it. That’s a way to start."

Did the estate have a leg to stand on? When Motorola released its ‘Droid’ device range, the firm actually had to license it from Star Wars director George Lucas, because, you know, they WERE the droids Motorola was looking for.

"We were honored that Verizon chose to name their newest technological venture the DROID smart phone, and we were happy to grant them a license to use the mark," said a spokeswoman for Mr. Lucas’s company, Lucasfilm Ltd.

Google fought back however, and said that the Nexus name had nothing to do with Dick’s work, and were just using the original meaning of the word Nexus.

The Dick estate had not trademarked ‘Nexus One’, so after a few harsh words back and forth between Google and the estate’s attorneys, no further action was taken.

Fast forward to 2014 though, and it’s the year when Google was expected to release the Nexus 6 smartphone. We come back to Philip K. Dick this year as the Nexus 6 line of Androids were the central characters in both ‘Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? and Blade Runner. Did the Dick estate predict this succession and trademark the Nexus 6 name before Google got to it? It’s possible, but I highly doubt it.

The Michael Report comes up with a different copyright reason as to why there might be no Nexus 6.

"This year, the next Nexus smartphone following the release of the Nexus 5 cannot be called the Nexus 6, or Google will risk a lawsuit – the name Nexus 6 has been copyrighted since 2000 for the release of a music album back then.

"According to the sources, Google’s legal team is well aware of the copyright and therefore have asked the product team to name what was supposed to be the Nexus 6 accordingly."

Of course, perhaps the most blindingly obvious and less tinfoil hat-donning theory is that Google is moving onto different things. Android Silver.

Android Silver is what is rumoured to be replacing Nexus devices. Probably set to be released in early 2015, Silver would work like the current Google Play range of devices, which are manufacturer flagships like the HTC One M8 and Samsung Galaxy S4 given an Android makeover to make them ‘kind of’ Nexus-like devices.

So instead of working with one manufacturer a year, Google would have its Android fingers in many manufacturer pies over multiple devices. Google could even aid with development and marketing costs.

By doing this, Google is gaining more control by ensuring consistency, brand recognition and quality across multiple devices by working more closely with manufactures.

It could also be two-fingered salute to Samsung, the firm that wants to eventually ditch Android for its own operating system and take away a large chink of data-gathering revenue goodness from Google.