In a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle "Google lawyer: Why the patent system is broken," Google's patent counsel discusses why he believes the system is broken. Here's the link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/06/BUQP1LQN3V.DTL
In an article by Timothy B. Lee on ars technica, he expands on the San Francisco Chronicle and offers some poignant insights on the matter. Here's the link: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/11/google-microsoft-uses-patents-when-products-stop-succeeding.ars