Have some patents lying around? Google might want to buy them.

In a blog post, the company announced Monday it has established the Patent Purchase Promotion, an experimental program in which patent owners can apply to sell their patents to Google Inc.

Google's goal is to set up an alternative to the usual marketplace for patents owned by individuals and small companies, where patent assertion entities, often called “patent trolls,” end up the buyers. “Then bad things happen, like lawsuits, lots of wasted effort and generally bad karma,” Allen Lo, deputy general counsel for patents, wrote in the post. “Rarely does this provide any meaningful benefit to the original patent owner.”