IANAL, but I wonder if this invention has any significance to the Planetary Society's plan to launch a solar sail satellite in the near future, the LightSail [1]. If I understand the patent correctly, Google has patented (a) a means to steer a light powered craft, and (b) a means to produce solar sail. I understand the LightSail controls the sails by changing the orientation of the satellite with respect to the sun. I have no info on how the sail itself was fabricated. Do they owe Google some money?
It's a very different design because the Planetary Society's is built to be launched from Earth and then unfolded, presumably making it much heavier. If it does use ideas from this patent, it must've expired by now.
[1] http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/lightsail-solar-sa...