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Google General Counsel Says Smartphone Patents Are ‘Gumming Up’ Innovation
By Susan Decker - Jul 25, 2011
Google Inc. (GOOG) General Counsel Kent Walker said the smartphone industry is using patents in an arms race that hurts consumers, leaving the company trying to “sort through the mess” of litigation.

“It’s hard to find what’s the best path -- there’s so much litigation,” Walker said in an interview. “We’re exploring a variety of different things.”

Google is seeking to buy patents that would put it on a level plane with its rivals, and the company will continue to push to have the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office take a closer look at issued patents that are being used in litigation, Walker said. Congress and the Federal Trade Commission also need to do more to rein in software patents and lawsuits, he said.

“The tech industry has a significant problem there,” Walker said. “Software patents are kind of gumming up the works of innovation.”

He also said the Mountain View, California-based company is providing support and technical help to companies that make products for the Android operating system and are being sued, either by rival companies such as Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp., or by small patent owners that don’t make products.