Google announced their new Patent Purchase Program on Monday, which will allow patent holders to attempt to sell their patent(s) to Google at a price that they themselves set. But why is Google doing this, you may ask? Basically, Wired reports, it's to help smaller companies and individual investors navigate the veritable minefield that is the U.S. patent market. And Google may get a good sense of the patent marketplace. One of the main enemies of innovation is the sale of patents to "trolls," companies that just fight to enforce their patents without actually making anything. Google will be holding the program from May 8-22 and will let submitters know their decision by June 26. Google wouldn't tell Wired how much it will eventually reveal about the outcome of the program.
