Sun Microsystems, which lost a lawsuit by Kodak over patents for Java last year, is not exactly patent-free itself. While waiting in the lobby in one of the company’s buildings in Menlo Park, Calif. this week, my attention was drawn to a wall filled with little plaques celebrating the awarding of patents to Sun employees. But don’t be fooled into thinking Sun is a big supporter of current patent laws. “Fundamentally, we certainly acknowledge that the entire patent system is very broken. At some level, it doesn’t matter because the game is what the game is and you either play it or you get killed,” Sun Vice President James Gosling said. The issue of patents for software has been a hot one lately. Industry dignitaries have debated the merits and risks of awarding patents for software technology that might unknowingly be used without permission somewhere else, placing the user at risk of lawsuits. Gosling said he is not aware of Sun ever suing anyone over patents. But Sun also was sued years ago over a patent pertaining to RISC technology and lost, he said. “It seemed like a really obvious patent but we lost,” Gosling said. There has been a lot of talk about patent reform. But for now, enterprises and technology companies have to be concerned about whether they are using software that may be subject to licensing fees because of some arcane patent. Technology Industry