Written by Brandon Baum, of Baum Legal and Practice Center Contributor.
Intellectual Ventures (IV) is what is often referred to derisively as a “patent troll.” It is a non-practicing entity that buys patents in order to monetize them, whether through licensing or litigation. But entities like IV take the view that they are providing a valuable service — they provide inventors with easy access to the economic incentive that fuels invention. In other words, they lubricate the Constitutional mandate “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts” by creating a ready market for inventions.
IV’s recent patent complaint filed in Delaware makes this point. IV avers as follows:
IV-Complaint
I can’t help but think that these are the points that IV founder Peter Detkin should have made when he was featured in NPR’s This American Life’s episode entitled When Patents Attack. Instead, Detkin seemed off his game, and did not present a compelling case for his business model.
It’s nice to see IV being very upfront about what it does and why IV thinks it’s good for the country.
You share in the PLI Practice Center community, so we just ask that you keep things civil. Leave out the personal attacks. Do not use profanity, ethnic or racial slurs, or take shots at anyone's sexual orientation or religion. If you can't be nice, we reserve the right to remove your material and ban users who violate our Terms of Service.