Hi guys!
This week, we were asked to continue to research NPEs. In my last two blog posts, I discussed what NPEs were and the controversy surrounding these entities. In my second blog post for assignment #8, I gave a quick example of a case between a NPE and a practicing entity.This week, I wanted to look at NPEs from another perspective- I felt that I would be able to do this by researching one of the most well-known NPEs.
Understanding Intellectual Ventures
Intellectual Ventures, a well known patent troll, is one of the largest NPEs and according to many articles, the most hated company in tech.
To begin, Intellectual Ventures was founded in 2000 by Microsoft employees Nathan Myhrvold and Edward Jung. Intellectual Ventures has collected close to 70,00 “intellectual assets” on a variety of different technologies and has control on over 40,000 of the 70,000 “intellectual assets”.
In the past, Intellectual Ventures has taken a lot of heat. They have been compared to the Mafia in the tech world who demand money and hinder development and growth in this industry. Needless to say, it is clear that Intellectual Ventures is one of the world’s biggest patent trolls.
Really Understanding Intellectual Ventures
The paragraphs above explain what most people think about Intellectual Ventures. However, after doing some research, I have learned what Intellectual Ventures thinks of itself.
The company actually functions in two parts. The first part is a think tank, where people come up with the most insane and innovative ideas to fix the world’s problems. The think tank part of Intellectual Ventures (also known as the fun side) has spun off into two businesses. First, TerraPower (a company building new, cleaner nuclear reactor) and Kymeta (produces antennas that improve satellite connections). The fun side of the business shows the brilliance and intelligence of their employees.
The other side of the business, is in fact, the troll business. The aggressive, assertive and lawyer-driven organization looking to make money from the insane amount of patents that it owns. This is the part that receives the criticism, but without it, the groundbreaking innovations that occur at Intellectual Ventures would not be taking place.
Myhrvold and their employees understand their negative public image, however, they believe that inventors need their fair share- people should get paid for their work. Myhrvold even said that “inventors should get rich. We should have more inventors, It’s good for everybody”. It makes sense that if you are using the technology that someone else invented, you should get paid for it. Personally, this seems very logically, however, when explained from the other viewpoint, I understand the feelings of anger others must experience.
Why do people hate Intellectual Ventures?
If the above is true, it doesn’t make sense why everyone has such strong, negative feelings towards Intellectual Ventures.
Intellectual Ventures has the most patents than any company in the United States. However, because they have so many patents, the only way to pay them off would be to engage in aggressive troll like behavior. They license to companies like SAP, Samsung and HTC.
Since Intellectual Ventures is a NPE, they have advantages in the courtroom since they are not as vulnerable. Additionally, these companies are built for litigation and they are not afraid of the costs. NPE do not even have an discovery costs because they do not even have any products. For this, people believe the patent system favor NPEs. People feel like NPEs have nothing to loose.
Furthermore, in a study done in 2011, it was not just large corporate companies getting sued. The median company being sued had only $10.8 million in revenue. Any sort of patent litigation to a startup could be deadly since they do not have the funds for the actual ligation let alone the settlement.
Although this seems unfair- it is not only NPEs suing companies for patent infringement. Apple, Google, Facebook and other companies spend millions to acquire patents just as a defensive mechanism (you sue me, I’ll sue you).
This leads to the question, why does everyone hate Intellectual Ventures so much! The company’s executives think that they are just misunderstood.
While they have the potential to tear down small or large companies, and are built for litigation- they are focused on helping inventors and creating new inventions. Other companies that are not NPEs may participate in similar behavior, however, the negative stereotypes around NPEs leave Intellectual Ventures with a misunderstood public image. However, the employees seem to understand their mission to continue to create and innovate.
Defending Intellectual Ventures
While it is understandable why companies may hate Intellectual Ventures (since they have so many patents) they actually create some of their patents in house.
They have intense brainstorming sessions where they spend hours coming up with solutions to some of today's most pressing issues along with issues that others have not even discovered yet. The company has come up with 500 patents and 4,000 patent applications and averages around 30 new patents per month. So although people may think they just take others ideas (which they do use other inventors patents) to then bully them, they are actually creating many new innovations- they are just not producing them.
Conclusion
Overall, I found this closer look into Intellectual Ventures very interesting! Although my personal view is still on the fence, this gave me a much broader understanding of NPEs. It shined a more positive light on NPEs where before, I only saw them negatively. I hope that you enjoy this post, and I am looking forward to reading your comments! Thanks :)
Hey! Great Blog Post! It was really clear and easy to understand. I like how you broke it up into sections like "Understanding Intellectual Ventures", "Why do people hate Intellectual Ventures?", and "Defending Intellectual Ventures"! The only suggestion I have is try to make it more concise and straight to the point! You can just discuss it all in the video, instead of writing everything out! But overall great job!!!! Cant wait to hear more from you :)
ReplyDeleteHey Gabrielle, this was an incredible post. It was super thorough, and you did an amazing job of explaining both sides of the argument. I really appreciated your balanced and informed approach. Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteHi Gabrielle,
ReplyDeleteI thought this post was extremely informative into developing an understanding of who exactly Intellectual Ventures are and what their line of business is. In my blog, I spoke about how Intellectual Ventures and Motorola were engaged in a lot of patent infringement warfare and that Intellectual Ventures had been developing a reputation within the industry as a patent-hoarding machine. I especially enjoy their excuse that what separates them from "patent trolls" is their claim that they don't file "frivolous lawsuits". However, what I enjoyed about your argument was that you provided a glimpse of both the good and the unnecessary that they engage in and I enjoyed the fact that it wasn't a one-sided argument. Fantastic post!
Hi Gabrielle,
ReplyDeleteYour blog post looks like you put a lot of effort into it, very easy to read and understand. Like Abbey and Rushil said, you did a great job of providing information from both sides of the argument. As Vruti said though, my only real critique is that next time try to shorten the post and make it as concise as you can. You did a great job on your post, very nice layout.
Super information packed post. You outlined both sides of NPEs very well and provided some great examples like Intellectual Ventures (I also did a post about them). I like all of the information and how indecisive you are-- the subject is very tricky and not black and white.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Gabrielle,
ReplyDeleteThis is very informative. It's a great idea to hear the story from another side. I find it interesting how Intellectual Ventures think of themselves as being misunderstood. Even if it is true that they made innovations in house, they are still trolling. The whole business model was built based on abusing the legal system. Patent was meant to protect the people who had put in the hard work to invent by granting these people the monopoly power over their product. It was not just for rewarding the act of inventing. If the Intellectual Ventures employees enjoyed the "fun" part- solving real problems by innovation, they should actually do it, instead of getting benefits to from people who actually try to do it. After all, the hard work is not just solving the problem, but also be found in implementing the ideas.
Hey Gabrielle,
ReplyDeleteGreat Post!
I really liked the depth that you went into with your research. It was quite cool to see a Patent Trolls perspective in defending themselves as opposed to always portraying them as the bad guys. I too made a similar analysis in my posts if you are interested in looking into them!
Keep up the great work!
Hey Gabby! This is an awesome post. You have clearly done a lot of research on intellectual ventures and patent trolls, and I do agree that they are many times harmful to the society. I do now see why you are in the fence - but perhaps if you could give a stronger conclusion next time it would be more convincing! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Gabby,
ReplyDeleteDuring my research, I also found information on Intellectual Ventures! You did a great job describing what this company does and how it interacted with patent trolls. I like how you gave both sides of the argument here too.
Wow! What a great blog post. I came across Intellectual Ventures as well, but I didn't go above and beyond like yourself to thoroughly understand all the angles. It would be great to hear your thoughts when you sort it all out later. Thanks for your post!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post - The depth you went into IV really shows through here. I like how you organized the post and progress through IV and then explain why many people are adverse to their practice. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHey Gabby! I can really tell that you put thought into this post by seeing your research on intellectual ventures and NPEs! I really like how you support with great evidence and described thoroughly. Keep up with the great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Gabby! I also wrote a post about Intellectual Ventures, but what I really like about yours is how you discuss IV in such great detail. After reading your post, I can view my content with a new perspective and really understand the way IV works and their business model. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGabby,
ReplyDeleteGreat discussion of Intellectual Ventures and TerraPower! You really put time and effort into this blog post! Keep up the great work!