Google’s chief legal officer calls for software patent reform

Google’s been heavily involved in patent litigation lately, both directly and through lawsuits against OEMs using its software, and the company has just reiterated its position that the patent system should be reformed to cut down on mobile software- and device-related lawsuits. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company’s chief legal officer David Drummond was particularly focused on the problems surrounding software patents when talking to the press in Seoul today. Drummond noted that countries outside the US make it much more difficult to acquire software patents, and he said Google believes “that’s probably the better way to go.” Ideally, Drummond said, “we need to do to is move past the one-size-fits-all and start thinking about software patents more specifically.”

Drummond does know that patent reform can be a tricky issue, particularly with other industries that would be affected by such changes — though he believes that “if you talk [specifically] about software patents, I don’t think those other industries will feel as threatened.” Regardless of what happens, Google appears to be tiring of the patent wars, and Drummond says his company isn’t the only one. “It doesn’t take much digging to find statements from Apple, Microsoft, all lamenting the fact that we have this patent litigation,” he said.