Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has criticised raging patent disputes in the global mobile industry, warning that they stifled innovation and reduced consumer choice.

"Google stands for innovation as opposed to patent wars ... the last thing we want to see are innovation and particular products being stopped," he said at an event in Seoul to launch Google's new Nexus 7 tablet.

Eric Schmidt shows off the Google Nexus 7 tablet.

Global smartphone giants Samsung and Apple are currently locked in a long-running patent battle over design and technology in 10 nations including the United States and Japan.

Schmidt declined to comment on any specific case, but was due to meet Samsung's mobile chief JK Shin later on Thursday. The South Korean firm uses Google's Android platform on its smartphones and tablets.