Google's patent counsel, Tim Porter, has told the San Francisco Chronicle that the US patent system is broken. He said that for too long, the patent office granted protection to broad, vague or unoriginal ideas masquerading as inventions and that is given rise to the current daft situation.

Companies including Oracle, Apple and Microsoft all claim that Android is built on technology protected by their patents. Oracle sued Google while Apple and Microsoft have gone after the companies using the software, demanding injunctions against selling devices or licensing fees.

Major players have been buying up intellectual-property holdings of companies like Novell and Nortel. Porter explained that the perpetual legal rows are sucking up time and resources that would otherwise go toward pushing this technology forward and developing the next disruptive inventions.

More here.