Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The company was founded in Bellevue, Washington, in 2000 by former Mi-
crosoft executives Nathan Myhrvold and Edward Young, with a number of prom-
inent later cofounders.
The main business of Intellectual Ventures is either filing patents based on their
own internal research or acquiring patents from other inventors and companies. A
visit to the website provides information on how to have a patent reviewed.
The company also has its own research facilities called Intellectual Ventures
Labs. Quite a few famous scientists work at these internal labs, and the disciplines
include medicine, biology, physics, software, nanotechnology, and others. Re-
searchers also study global warming and have patented a potential (but possibly
harmful) method of reversing global warming by creating an artificial shield over
the earth that would partially block sunlight. (If this method failed, it might reverse
global warming enough to create a new Ice Age.)
Intellectual Ventures is a private company that seems to be well funded with
perhaps more than $5.5 billion from a variety of external sources. Some of the in-
vestors are major companies such as Microsoft; Intel; Sony; Nokia; Google; and
a variety of other high-tech, medical, science, and bioengineering groups. Some
venture funds are also invested.
It is one of the largest holders of patents in the United States. Intellectual Ven-
tures owns more than 30,000 patents in total, including 2,000 filed by internal re-
searchers. It is now filing close to 500 new patent applications per year.
The controversy that flows around Intellectual Ventures centers on a new term:
“patent troll.” That term refers to a company that acquires patents not to produce
new products but rather to gain revenues by litigating other companies for patent
infringements.
Note
Claims of patent trolling are legal issues outside the scope of this
book. I am not an attorney and have no legal training, so the in-
formation discussed here comes from web and journal articles and
other second-hand sources. Readers should discuss patents and oth-
er legal issues with qualified attorneys.
In 2010, Intellectual Ventures filed patent suits against a number of prominent
companies. However, patent litigation today seems to be endemic for the software
and computer industries and also for equipment manufacturers such as Apple,
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