Is that not what they did back in april [1] or march 2009 [2]? I'm surprised by the implication that Google hasn't publicly opposed software patents.

"It's for these reasons that Google has long argued in favor of real patent reform, which we believe will benefit users and the U.S. economy as a whole."

[1] http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/patents-and-innovatio...

[2] http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/03/patent-reform...