In Technology Wars, Using the Patent as a Sword - NYTimes.com

A sign of the litigious times

"In the smartphone industry alone, according to a Stanford University analysis, as much as $20 billion was spent on patent litigation and patent purchases in the last two years — an amount equal to eight Mars rover missions. Last year, for the first time, spending by Apple and Google on patent lawsuits and unusually big-dollar patent purchases exceeded spending on research and development of new products, according to public filings."

In Technology Wars, Using the Patent as a Sword - NYTimes.com