3 ms·

Intellectual Ventures v. The World

28 points by calbucci 15y ago

AdamTReineke 15y ago
I caught the program by accident today and really enjoyed it. The MP3 should be up on their site at 7pm (not sure which timezone). http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/w...
jamesaguilar 15y ago
It seems like a good idea for a big tech company to invest in this thing to hedge against patent suit risks. It's still probably a net loss for them, but probably less so than if they didn't hedge. The real people left footing the bill are whoever is funding the courts.
- rdl 15y ago
  The other people left footing the bill are all the inventions which don't get invented (inventors and end users), startups which need to raise extra VC or avoid being put out of business, etc. The external costs of this is why the system itself should be changed.
prayag 15y ago
IV is just a technology scum-bag. There's nothing more to it. No, Mr. Myhrvold, ideas have no inherent value. An idea needs execution for it to produce any value. If everyone starts coming up with ideas and nobody executes them, what will be the fucking point. We would have thought of everything and would have done nothing because it's cheaper/easier to come up with ideas than to actually make an effort to turn them into reality. I hate patent trolls so bad. It's a pity things have come to this.
earth2travis 15y ago
Intellectual Vultures claim they invest in invention when in actuality they are simply scavenging on the carrion of inventors. Not a single technology from their lab has made it into commercial use. Instead they have created a culture of litigation and fear within the software industry. 30 percent of U.S. patents are essentially on things that have already been invented. Almost anyone trying to start a business on the Internet is guilty of infringement. Once you have enough success to become visible in the public eye you immediately become a target of patent trolls. Precious resources (time and money) are wasted defending lawsuits or getting sued out of existence. Large companies are also wasting resources amassing defensive arsenals of patents. Apple and a consortium of other tech companies recently purchased Nortel's portfolio for $4.5 billion dollars in the largest patent auction in history. Unfortunately this is not to use these technologies. Rather it is saying, "If you sue me, I'll sue you." This cycle is not creating value it is destroying it. It gets in the way of new ideas and products and wastes resources on litigation instead of innovation.
CamperBob 15y ago
IV protects inventors the way the RIAA protects artists. Just what the world needs... another cartel.
rexreed 15y ago
I can see a future where potential acquirers of startups (i.e. big guys with big patent portfolios) put meager acquisition offers to promising (and threatening) startups on the one hand, and a gun in the other with the threat to sue the poor startup to oblivion if they don't accept the offer. The aggregation of patent portfolios into the hands of a small cartel couldn't possibly be beneficial to startups and the innovation economy.

28 points by calbucci 15y ago

I caught the program by accident today and really enjoyed it. The MP3 should be up on their site at 7pm (not sure which timezone). http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/w...

jamesaguilar 15y ago

It seems like a good idea for a big tech company to invest in this thing to hedge against patent suit risks. It's still probably a net loss for them, but probably less so than if they didn't hedge. The real people left footing the bill are whoever is funding the courts.

rdl 15y ago
The other people left footing the bill are all the inventions which don't get invented (inventors and end users), startups which need to raise extra VC or avoid being put out of business, etc. The external costs of this is why the system itself should be changed.

prayag 15y ago

IV is just a technology scum-bag. There's nothing more to it. No, Mr. Myhrvold, ideas have no inherent value. An idea needs execution for it to produce any value. If everyone starts coming up with ideas and nobody executes them, what will be the fucking point. We would have thought of everything and would have done nothing because it's cheaper/easier to come up with ideas than to actually make an effort to turn them into reality. I hate patent trolls so bad. It's a pity things have come to this.

earth2travis 15y ago

Intellectual Vultures claim they invest in invention when in actuality they are simply scavenging on the carrion of inventors. Not a single technology from their lab has made it into commercial use. Instead they have created a culture of litigation and fear within the software industry. 30 percent of U.S. patents are essentially on things that have already been invented. Almost anyone trying to start a business on the Internet is guilty of infringement. Once you have enough success to become visible in the public eye you immediately become a target of patent trolls. Precious resources (time and money) are wasted defending lawsuits or getting sued out of existence. Large companies are also wasting resources amassing defensive arsenals of patents. Apple and a consortium of other tech companies recently purchased Nortel's portfolio for $4.5 billion dollars in the largest patent auction in history. Unfortunately this is not to use these technologies. Rather it is saying, "If you sue me, I'll sue you." This cycle is not creating value it is destroying it. It gets in the way of new ideas and products and wastes resources on litigation instead of innovation.

CamperBob 15y ago

IV protects inventors the way the RIAA protects artists. Just what the world needs... another cartel.

rexreed 15y ago

I can see a future where potential acquirers of startups (i.e. big guys with big patent portfolios) put meager acquisition offers to promising (and threatening) startups on the one hand, and a gun in the other with the threat to sue the poor startup to oblivion if they don't accept the offer. The aggregation of patent portfolios into the hands of a small cartel couldn't possibly be beneficial to startups and the innovation economy.