Only a few days after Google filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission against Apple (AAPL), the company’s public policy director Pablo Chavez suggested that it might be time to ditch software patents. “One thing that we are very seriously taking a look at is the question of software patents, and whether in fact the patent system as it currently exists is the right system to incent innovation and really promote consumer-friendly policies,” Chavez said according to CNET.
The executive believes that the ongoing “patent wars” between different companies are hurting consumers, as well as hindering innovation within the industry and the marketplace. Chavez doesn’t want to get rid of the patent system as a whole, however he believes software patents are quite different from other industries, such as medicine, and need to be reworked.
There are a “lot of structural differences between that industry and the software industry,” he said. “With that in mind, we are starting to brainstorm longer-term solutions.” Google (GOOG) has previously spoken out about software patents and their potential to stifle invocation
