Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt discussed the patent system, regulatory and cybersecurity concerns...

corporations who are able to profit off of innovation more quickly and easily than individual inventors. “We've had no choice” but to engage in the patent wars, he said: “But we've used them defensively, not offensively.” Schmidt said a major problem with the U.S. patent system is that it’s difficult to determine which technologies are already patented and who owns those patents. It’s illegal for inventors to “crowdsource” this by asking Internet users if certain technologies are patented, he said: “We suggested it.” Schmidt said lawmakers should “make sure that regulations allow for new entrants” and don’t favor incumbents. He said the federal government should be more transparent with the data it collects and uses. If the government were to “make the stuff transparent,” he said, innovators could take the data and find a way to more efficiently provide needed services while making a profit. Though he’s not worried about system failures, Schmidt said he’s concerned about a “super militarized attack,” citing a 2010 attack on Google traced to China that sought to steal intellectual property. “Our systems are getting better at dealing with this,” he said, but he worries about what will happen when “really evil terrorists will find really evil programmers."