Google (GOOG) is encouraging companies to work together to finally put an end to the endless stream of patent infringement lawsuits that have plagued the technology industry in recent years. Eric Schulman, the company’s legal director, is also interested in ending lawsuits from firms that don’t make any products or services, commonly known as patent trolls, and prevent companies from selling their technology to these parties. Schulman believes that increased litigation will hurt innovation in the industry and has outlined four different, royalty-free patent licensing agreements that he believes can help end infringement lawsuits and patent trolls.
“We outline several networked, standardized, royalty-free patent licensing agreements that increase companies’ freedom to operate while reducing patent assertions, especially by trolls,” Schulman wrote on Google’s blog. “The more companies that unite in these kinds of agreements, the more beneficial the agreement becomes to its members, especially companies that don’t regularly sell patents or don’t want to spend money or time defending against trolls.”
