engine - 3:21 pm on Apr 2, 2009 (gmt 0)

Chris Russell, Operations Manager at Google's data center in Council Bluffs.

Google Employee Calls For Reform of Outdated Patent Laws [desmoinesregister.com]

Unfortunately, American innovators and engineers are being constrained by patent laws that have not been updated since 1952. Current law is being used to hold up companies for huge settlement payments, even when alleged infringements are trivial. Google and countless other American companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year defending and settling frivolous patent lawsuits - resources that would be much better spent developing revolutionary new technologies and creating jobs. As part of comprehensive patent reform, Congress should take the necessary steps to modernize and provide additional resources to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Consider that in 1790, when the first patent law was enacted, three patent examiners reviewed three patent applications. Today, there are only 7,000 patent examiners charged with reviewing more than 460,000 patent applications per year. The application backlog has created an unnecessary drag on innovation.