IN THE war for patents Google stepped up its efforst and acquired more than 1,000 patents from IBM. The move has been seen by the industry experts as one through which the company will defend itself against patent litigations.

Industry watchers have stated that with such a move, Google too is a leading competitor in the patents race. In an industry where the technological giant has claim to just a little over 700 patents, it is players in the mobile industry who have thousands of patents.

Elucidating on the cut throat competition, the expert was quoted saying by a leading American daily that patents are instruments of war.

Google's Android mobile device software has increasingly been targeted in legal complaints. A relative newcomer to the mobile industry, Google is competing against established players with large intellectual property arsenals, he was further quoted saying. The Google android first went on sale in 2008 and the application is the most widely used software for smartphones.

The expert further explained that Google neglected patents for many years because it did not realize that they were essential business tools. It can no longer neglect them.