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Check out ex-Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold [0] of Intellectual Ventures [1] infamy. He's also famous for his epic modernist cuisine cooking bible [2]. I also h

Check out ex-Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold [0] of Intellectual Ventures [1] infamy. He's also famous for his epic modernist cuisine cooking bible [2]. I also highly recommend the This American Life two-part podcast on patent trolls [3] [4]. You can read Nathan's attempted justification of his patent troll activities here [5]. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Myhrvold http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Myhrvold [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Ventures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Ventures [2] http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cuisine-The-Science-Cooking/dp/0982761007# http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cuisine-The-Science-Cooking/... [3] http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/w... [4] http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/496/when-patents-attack-part-two http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/496/w... [5] https://hbr.org/2010/03/the-big-idea-funding-eureka https://hbr.org/2010/03/the-big-idea-funding-eureka

wingerlang 12y ago
Thanks, I will have a look.
michael_h 12y ago
Nothing makes my blood boil more than Nathan Myhrvold's weird justifications for his behavior. It all sounds plausible, maybe even admirable, and then he turns around and funds 'inventors' that have patents for absolute malarkey. At this point, I hope he is ONLY remembered for being a troll and nothing else. Once people make it to the top, they almost always try to change the rules so no one can follow in their footsteps. "Well, yes, that was okay for me, but you are going to have to make it on your own, kiddo." Establishing a capital market for inventions sounds like a great idea, but it is predicated on the notion that the patent office is not asleep at the wheel. Person-in-garage-invents-life-changing-technology is a great trope, but where the rubber meets the road we have the Eolas patent and various "using a computer or network of computers" patents.

wingerlang 12y ago

Thanks, I will have a look.

michael_h 12y ago

Nothing makes my blood boil more than Nathan Myhrvold's weird justifications for his behavior. It all sounds plausible, maybe even admirable, and then he turns around and funds 'inventors' that have patents for absolute malarkey. At this point, I hope he is ONLY remembered for being a troll and nothing else. Once people make it to the top, they almost always try to change the rules so no one can follow in their footsteps. "Well, yes, that was okay for me, but you are going to have to make it on your own, kiddo." Establishing a capital market for inventions sounds like a great idea, but it is predicated on the notion that the patent office is not asleep at the wheel. Person-in-garage-invents-life-changing-technology is a great trope, but where the rubber meets the road we have the Eolas patent and various "using a computer or network of computers" patents.