CNET News.com has uncovered some of the inventors Nathan Myhrvold and his cohorts at Intellectual Ventures are working with in this story. For those not in the know, Intellectual Ventures is a company that's aggregating intellectual property with the hope of making money off patent royalties. The Deal covered the firm after its founding in this story, which also brought up the very real worry that Myhrvold and his buddies at Intellectual Ventures were really just snapping up patents in order to file lawsuits against some very large companies. The folks at Intellectual Ventures maintain they are trying to push technology and invention ahead a few years, but there's no question in the minds of folks who are in the IP industry that Intellectual Ventures will file some lawsuits.
But as Congress attempts another try at patent reform, the playing field for firms like Intellectual Ventures could change dramatically. Tech Confidential takes a look at some of the reforms that have been proposed in this story, and even chatted with Peter Detkin at Intellectual Ventures about his thoughts on the reform efforts. If the least controversial aspect of the reform goes through, the patent systems would end up rewarding patents to those who are first to file for the patent rather than the first to invent a patent. That means the issues of prior art become irrelevant and it becomes more advantageous to file for a patent as soon as possible.
For Intellectual Ventures, the reform likely wouldn't hurt their existing patents, but it might force the company to show its hand if lawsuits will need to be filed before reforms are pushed through Congress. Keep an eye on this space. — Stacey Higginbotham
Go to story from CNET News.com
Go to story from The Deal
Go to story from Tech Confidential
Continue reading below
