5 ms·

He seems like a smart guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Myhrvold http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Myhrvold ... wonder what made him turn his hand to pa

by damian2000 14y ago

He seems like a smart guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Myhrvold http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Myhrvold ... wonder what made him turn his hand to patent litigation?

bryanh 14y ago
Money.
- sp332 14y ago
  Short but true. He has explained that, even though it doesn't really make sense, the current regulatory environment makes this business extremely profitable and it makes (business) sense to do it.
- batgaijin 14y ago
  I don't buy that... and he knows he's villifying himself in the tech industry. Perhaps I'm a bit of a romantic but I think he's doing it on purpose. If you know the game is rigged, and will have massive effects on the future of technological development, you have quite the motivation to show the flaws. To anyone doubting me: think about it. We all know IV, these connections to shell corporations are new but they are also inevitable. Why wouldn't they play it slower? Why wouldn't they make sure there was no overlap? These are technocrats; they know the smallest smudge can haunt them. Do you think the tracks were left by accident?
  - rdl 14y ago
    Arguably most of the tech industry (at least people over 25 or so) already hated him due to his role at Microsoft, so he's used to that. If he is actually engaged in a "long troll" against the patent industrial complex, then he's worthy of approximately every science and economics prize in the world. I just don't think that's his style, though.
  - smokeyj 14y ago
    I'm happy this guy exists. Sure, we can use logic to deduce ideas aren't property. But not until a troll comes around do the masses pay attention. I hope he makes a fortune making a mockery out of the mockery.
javajosh 14y ago
I've heard him interviewed about his interest in cooking. He sounded like one of those fastidious geniuses who look at you like you're an insect - totally calculating, without a single molecule of empathy (you didn't know empathy had a molecule? well, it does). I think with Intellectual Ventures he saw an opportunity to make a lot (more) money within the legal framework of the United States, and despite already having a great deal of money, he simply seized the opportunity. Money is nice, and more money is nicer. It's doubtful that he feels anything like remorse for the destruction his company has inflicted on the nation's innovators. No doubt he sees himself simply as a shrewd businessman who saw an opening and took it. One of his rationalizations, if he is ever bothered to make one, might be, "Well, if I wasn't doing this someone else would be." Of course, that is true. It's one of those times when I wish we lived in smaller communities, where people like Nathan would have to deal with the ire of the community - to look people in the eye, to see the hatred and the anger that his actions are causing. Barring that, the AIA is not enough, and we need legislation to put IV and it's ilk out of business for good. E.g. let's turn that hatred and anger that Myrvold never sees (and probably wouldn't care about if he did) into real political action to take his weapons away from him.
- 001sky 14y ago
  His book on cooking is called Modernist Cuisine, and is turning into something of a Landmark publishing/reference work. Its ~5 volumes and retails for ~$500 dollars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernist_Cuisine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernist_Cuisine Just begs the question, though. Doesn't this guy have something better to do? Dunno.
  - damian2000 14y ago
    So this is where the profits from the patent litigation goes: Myhrvold started buying equipment for the research kitchen in the Intellectual Ventures lab. Much of the equipment was standard cooking equipment, but it also included items such as rotor-stator homogenizers, ultrahigh-pressure homogenizers, freeze-dryers, a 50 G centrifuge,[1] ultrasonic baths, and rotary evaporators.[9] The laboratory already included other high-tech and industrial equipment,[10] a 100-ton hydraulic press,[10] a large water-jet cutter, an electrical discharge machine, and automated milling machines. I can see the connection with Heston Blumenthal in terms of the science of cooking etc. Myhrvold and Wayt Gibbs, an executive editor at Intellectual Ventures who served as the editor-in-chief and project manager for the book, also started hiring writers and editors, research assistants, photo editors, and an art director. First hired was Chris Young, who had just stopped his work of leading the development kitchen in Heston Blumenthal's restaurant The Fat Duck in England.
manhonest 14y ago
My guess: Getting repeatedly cautioned and perhaps threatened by patent lawyers while CTO at Microsoft. To use the cliche, he could not beat them so he joined them. IV is essentially a patent law firm that is its own client, or a company legal department minus the company; it was initially funded out of his own pocket. In my experience very few business people like lawyers or litigation and no sensible business person would have been inclined to invest millions in an idea like IV. But a man with Microsoft money and a grudge to settle with the world of patents and patent lawyers... anything is possible when you have that much cash. Some guys build failed music museums shaped like melting guitars[1], others start acquiring low quality patents en masse, forming short-lived shell companies with cryptic names and threatening innovators with patent litigation. Now that they are bringing in revenue a business person might see things differently; maybe IV looks like a sensible investment. But trolling is still trolling. As with a law firm, they rely on the patent system to make money yet they produce nothing. They rely on fear of litigation to drive their "business". How long can they keep up the charade? 1. Interestingly, he's no stranger to frivolous patent litigation either. However like his museum, his attempts at bogus-patent-based extortion failed.
- nikcub 14y ago
  > and no sensible business person would have been inclined to invest millions in an idea like IV. Boy, you couldn't be more wrong. IV has raised $5.5 billion[0] from the likes of[1]: * Adobe * Amazon.com * American Express * Apple * Cisco Systems * Detelle Relay KG * eBay, Inc. * Google * Microsoft * Nokia * Nvidia * OC Applications Research * SAP * Sony Corp. * TR Technologies * Verizon * Xilinx * Yahoo * Brown University * Cornell University * Grinnell College * Mayo Clinic * Northwestern University * Stanford University * University of Minnesota * University of Pennsylvania * University of Southern California * University of Texas * Allen SBH * Bush Foundation * Charles River Ventures * Commonfund Capital Venture Partners * Dore Capital * Flag Capital * Flora Family Foundation * Hewlett Foundation * Howard Hughes Medical Institute * Legacy Ventures * McKinsey and Co. * Next Generation Partners * Noregin Assets * Reading Hospital * Rockefeller Foundation * Roldan Block NY * Seqouia Holdings * Skillman Foundation * Sohn Partners * Taichi Holdings * TIFF Private Equity * White Plaza Group There seems to be a misunderstanding of who Intellectual Ventures are. Most people didn't know about them before the NPR stories that portrayed them as patent trolls (they are), but they are also well known as researches, as hiring a large number of great inventors and notable scientists, filing hundreds of their own patents for technologies developed in house, for inventing the mini-nuclear reactor that was spun out as Terrapower, for stratoshield - a proposed solution to global warming as featured in Freakanomics, for their mosquito gun based on star wars tech, for their battery research and also for making deals with over a hundred universities around the world for a right of first refusal on all new inventions. They aren't only patent trolls, there is a lot more to the company - $1B p.a in revenue IV started as an ideas/inventions marketplace. Myhrvold went to all of the large tech companies and pitch them on setting up a fund that would be like an OPEC for patents. Instead of each company individually fighting patent battles, they would invest in IV and that would give them access to an arsenal to help defend themselves. This did come from his experience with patents at Microsoft. IV then went out and raised funds in a way similar to what VCs do - but instead of investing into tech companies they actively buy up patents and inventions on behalf of their fund LP's (Microsoft, Apple, etc. listed above). It is a way for these companies to defend themselves from patents and to outsource part of their R&D. IV has purchased over 30,000 patents across their funds, have applied for another 2,000 or so themselves, have a network of 4,000 inventors in their marketplace and actively seek out inventors on their website[2]. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Ventures#Overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Ventures#Overview [1] http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2011/05/intellectual-ventures-revealing-investors.html http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2011/05/intellectual-venture... [2] http://www.intellectualventures.com/index.php/inventor-network http://www.intellectualventures.com/index.php/inventor-netwo...
dguilder321 14y ago
In an interview he said he was unpopular in high school and it didnt bother him, so being unpopular because of IV doesnt bother him either. He's like a bitter nerd maniacally extracting his revenge on the world for his unhappy high school years.
- ahi 14y ago
  There's a difference between unpopular and loathed.

He seems like a smart guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Myhrvold http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Myhrvold ... wonder what made him turn his hand to patent litigation?

bryanh 14y ago

Money.

sp332 14y ago
Short but true. He has explained that, even though it doesn't really make sense, the current regulatory environment makes this business extremely profitable and it makes (business) sense to do it.
batgaijin 14y ago
I don't buy that... and he knows he's villifying himself in the tech industry. Perhaps I'm a bit of a romantic but I think he's doing it on purpose. If you know the game is rigged, and will have massive effects on the future of technological development, you have quite the motivation to show the flaws. To anyone doubting me: think about it. We all know IV, these connections to shell corporations are new but they are also inevitable. Why wouldn't they play it slower? Why wouldn't they make sure there was no overlap? These are technocrats; they know the smallest smudge can haunt them. Do you think the tracks were left by accident?
- rdl 14y ago
  Arguably most of the tech industry (at least people over 25 or so) already hated him due to his role at Microsoft, so he's used to that. If he is actually engaged in a "long troll" against the patent industrial complex, then he's worthy of approximately every science and economics prize in the world. I just don't think that's his style, though.
- smokeyj 14y ago
  I'm happy this guy exists. Sure, we can use logic to deduce ideas aren't property. But not until a troll comes around do the masses pay attention. I hope he makes a fortune making a mockery out of the mockery.

javajosh 14y ago

I've heard him interviewed about his interest in cooking. He sounded like one of those fastidious geniuses who look at you like you're an insect - totally calculating, without a single molecule of empathy (you didn't know empathy had a molecule? well, it does). I think with Intellectual Ventures he saw an opportunity to make a lot (more) money within the legal framework of the United States, and despite already having a great deal of money, he simply seized the opportunity. Money is nice, and more money is nicer. It's doubtful that he feels anything like remorse for the destruction his company has inflicted on the nation's innovators. No doubt he sees himself simply as a shrewd businessman who saw an opening and took it. One of his rationalizations, if he is ever bothered to make one, might be, "Well, if I wasn't doing this someone else would be." Of course, that is true. It's one of those times when I wish we lived in smaller communities, where people like Nathan would have to deal with the ire of the community - to look people in the eye, to see the hatred and the anger that his actions are causing. Barring that, the AIA is not enough, and we need legislation to put IV and it's ilk out of business for good. E.g. let's turn that hatred and anger that Myrvold never sees (and probably wouldn't care about if he did) into real political action to take his weapons away from him.

001sky 14y ago
His book on cooking is called Modernist Cuisine, and is turning into something of a Landmark publishing/reference work. Its ~5 volumes and retails for ~$500 dollars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernist_Cuisine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernist_Cuisine Just begs the question, though. Doesn't this guy have something better to do? Dunno.
- damian2000 14y ago
  So this is where the profits from the patent litigation goes: Myhrvold started buying equipment for the research kitchen in the Intellectual Ventures lab. Much of the equipment was standard cooking equipment, but it also included items such as rotor-stator homogenizers, ultrahigh-pressure homogenizers, freeze-dryers, a 50 G centrifuge,[1] ultrasonic baths, and rotary evaporators.[9] The laboratory already included other high-tech and industrial equipment,[10] a 100-ton hydraulic press,[10] a large water-jet cutter, an electrical discharge machine, and automated milling machines. I can see the connection with Heston Blumenthal in terms of the science of cooking etc. Myhrvold and Wayt Gibbs, an executive editor at Intellectual Ventures who served as the editor-in-chief and project manager for the book, also started hiring writers and editors, research assistants, photo editors, and an art director. First hired was Chris Young, who had just stopped his work of leading the development kitchen in Heston Blumenthal's restaurant The Fat Duck in England.

manhonest 14y ago

My guess: Getting repeatedly cautioned and perhaps threatened by patent lawyers while CTO at Microsoft. To use the cliche, he could not beat them so he joined them. IV is essentially a patent law firm that is its own client, or a company legal department minus the company; it was initially funded out of his own pocket. In my experience very few business people like lawyers or litigation and no sensible business person would have been inclined to invest millions in an idea like IV. But a man with Microsoft money and a grudge to settle with the world of patents and patent lawyers... anything is possible when you have that much cash. Some guys build failed music museums shaped like melting guitars[1], others start acquiring low quality patents en masse, forming short-lived shell companies with cryptic names and threatening innovators with patent litigation. Now that they are bringing in revenue a business person might see things differently; maybe IV looks like a sensible investment. But trolling is still trolling. As with a law firm, they rely on the patent system to make money yet they produce nothing. They rely on fear of litigation to drive their "business". How long can they keep up the charade? 1. Interestingly, he's no stranger to frivolous patent litigation either. However like his museum, his attempts at bogus-patent-based extortion failed.

nikcub 14y ago
> and no sensible business person would have been inclined to invest millions in an idea like IV. Boy, you couldn't be more wrong. IV has raised $5.5 billion[0] from the likes of[1]: * Adobe * Amazon.com * American Express * Apple * Cisco Systems * Detelle Relay KG * eBay, Inc. * Google * Microsoft * Nokia * Nvidia * OC Applications Research * SAP * Sony Corp. * TR Technologies * Verizon * Xilinx * Yahoo * Brown University * Cornell University * Grinnell College * Mayo Clinic * Northwestern University * Stanford University * University of Minnesota * University of Pennsylvania * University of Southern California * University of Texas * Allen SBH * Bush Foundation * Charles River Ventures * Commonfund Capital Venture Partners * Dore Capital * Flag Capital * Flora Family Foundation * Hewlett Foundation * Howard Hughes Medical Institute * Legacy Ventures * McKinsey and Co. * Next Generation Partners * Noregin Assets * Reading Hospital * Rockefeller Foundation * Roldan Block NY * Seqouia Holdings * Skillman Foundation * Sohn Partners * Taichi Holdings * TIFF Private Equity * White Plaza Group There seems to be a misunderstanding of who Intellectual Ventures are. Most people didn't know about them before the NPR stories that portrayed them as patent trolls (they are), but they are also well known as researches, as hiring a large number of great inventors and notable scientists, filing hundreds of their own patents for technologies developed in house, for inventing the mini-nuclear reactor that was spun out as Terrapower, for stratoshield - a proposed solution to global warming as featured in Freakanomics, for their mosquito gun based on star wars tech, for their battery research and also for making deals with over a hundred universities around the world for a right of first refusal on all new inventions. They aren't only patent trolls, there is a lot more to the company - $1B p.a in revenue IV started as an ideas/inventions marketplace. Myhrvold went to all of the large tech companies and pitch them on setting up a fund that would be like an OPEC for patents. Instead of each company individually fighting patent battles, they would invest in IV and that would give them access to an arsenal to help defend themselves. This did come from his experience with patents at Microsoft. IV then went out and raised funds in a way similar to what VCs do - but instead of investing into tech companies they actively buy up patents and inventions on behalf of their fund LP's (Microsoft, Apple, etc. listed above). It is a way for these companies to defend themselves from patents and to outsource part of their R&D. IV has purchased over 30,000 patents across their funds, have applied for another 2,000 or so themselves, have a network of 4,000 inventors in their marketplace and actively seek out inventors on their website[2]. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Ventures#Overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Ventures#Overview [1] http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2011/05/intellectual-ventures-revealing-investors.html http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2011/05/intellectual-venture... [2] http://www.intellectualventures.com/index.php/inventor-network http://www.intellectualventures.com/index.php/inventor-netwo...

dguilder321 14y ago

In an interview he said he was unpopular in high school and it didnt bother him, so being unpopular because of IV doesnt bother him either. He's like a bitter nerd maniacally extracting his revenge on the world for his unhappy high school years.

ahi 14y ago
There's a difference between unpopular and loathed.