Software patents gumming up smartphone innovation, Googles general counsel says

Apple, Google, HTC, Samsung, Microsoft its hard to name a technology company thats not currently involved in a patent battle with another firm. Googles general counsel Kent Walker thinks the legal battles could actually hurt consumers and the landscape of todays ever changing smartphone market. The tech industry has a significant problem, Walker said. Software patents are kind of gumming up the works of innovation. Google chairman Eric Schmidt recently said that his company will stand behind HTC, one of its Android partners, in an attempt to ensure it doesnt lose an ongoing patent battle with Apple. We have seen an explosion of Android devices entering the market and, because of our successes, competitors are responding with lawsuits as they cannot respond through innovations, Schmidt said. According to Bloomberg, Walker said that Google is looking to purchase patents that will allow it to compete better against its rivals, such as Apple. It is unclear what acquisitions Google willpursuein an effort to bolster its patent portfolio, but there is speculation the search giant will buy Kodaks InterDigital arm. Each side can blow the other up on some level everybody can block the others products from coming to market, Walker said. You create this mutually assured destruction scenario, but its very expensive to get all those munitions. Buying patents so you can hit the other guy, its not good form. You hate to unilaterally disarm here, but we havent in our history. Walker said that hes confident Google has the muscle to balance the scales against the likes of Microsoft and Apple! .< /span>

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