Google I/O: Chief Exec Calls for Technology Cooperation

As part of yesterday’s Google I/O keynote, the company’s CEO Larry Page made a surprise visit on stage to discuss his take on technological progress and answer questions from software developers in attendance. During his remarks, Page suggested that computer science has a marketing problem today, we should be doing more to encourage children’s pursuit of science, and technological progress has been hampered by needless competition among tech companies. Continue reading Google I/O: Chief Exec Calls for Technology Cooperation

Year in Review: Top Tech Policy Stories of 2012

From Kim Dotcom and the rise of patent troll lawsuits to Apple v. Samsung and the public outcry against SOPA/PIPA, 2012 was a dramatic year in terms of copyright law, tech-related legislation and Internet policy. Response to the SOPA/PIPA bills in January helped set the tone as the debate in Washington raged, and consumers and companies took to the Internet in protest. At one point, politicians were flooded with a record eight million e-mails from regular Internet users in just a few days. So what were the top tech policy stories for 2012 — and how will they impact us moving forward? Continue reading Year in Review: Top Tech Policy Stories of 2012

Google Rolls Out Ambitious Plan to Acquire Patents

  • Google has purchased more than 1,000 patents from IBM, its most recent step in what the Los Angeles Times describes as “an arms race for patents.”
  • The acquisition is part of an effort to strengthen its intellectual-property portfolio and avoid legal assault.
  • It may also bolster the legal buffer surrounding its Android mobile OS court showdown with Oracle set for October.
  • Google has some 700 patents (mostly for search engine technology) while its competitors, especially those in the mobile industry, have thousands.
  • “Patents are instruments of war. Companies are acquiring patents to both defend their market share and to countersue competitors,” suggests technology patent valuation specialist Alexander Poltorak, chief executive of General Patent Corp. “Google neglected patents for many years because it did not realize that they were essential business tools. It can no longer neglect them.”