Welcome to the GoogleBorg?

Patenting the Google front Web Page - its like Da Vinci being able to patent head and shoulder portraits of women. Or, as Harrym put it:

Oh my. Really? Perhaps they're doing it on purpose to persuade EU that software patents really are a stupid idea...

There is a serious point here. When I was young and impressionable, a boss of mine remarked that you could tell companies who had stopped innovating (and thus whose long term value was in decline) by three main things:

- Fancy headquarters and hefty top executive perks vs the troops' benefits (beware of big bosses bonusses as they cut the staff's biscuits, I recall him saying)

- Defensive market behaviour rather than leadership (this included "assertive" use of patents )

- The Marcomms & Lobbying departments being closer to the Top Exec floor than the people who did stuff

I've found it a pretty good rule of thumb over 20 years. I'd add that another sign is when they move from in-house initiatives to acquisition for future growth.

Where d'you think the Googleplex scores today?

(Update - fair minded people have been pointing out to me that it could be a defensive move to stop patent trolls. Perhaps, but that is what prior art proof is all about..... )

(Update No 2 - The very smart Graeme Pieterz points out in the comments below that a patent gives the opportunity to countersue, whereas prior art does not. Am feeling very dim, I knew that but forgot about it )