Heads of major companies like Google, Apple and IBM have shown support for the Patent Reform Act of 2007 which is currently making its way through Congress. These companies argue that “the U.S. patent system has veered off course and is being abused” with “damages that are too great, patents for insignificant innovations and poor quality patents that haven't been researched enough”. It’s certainly true that patent litigation has been common lately, with the Broadcom/ Qualcomm issues, the BlackBerry problems, and the Vonage ruling all taking up time in the courts. The new bill “would make it harder to get a patent and easier to challenge one, and it would change how courts determined a patent's value.” If you want to learn more about the bill, you can read the legalese here or get the Wikipedia version.