Intellectual Ventures' Litigation Adventures about to start

PatLit has been watching with great interest the activities of Intellectual Ventures (IV).  Having spent the past decade stockpiling and licensing patents, this non-practising entity with a difference has now filed its first three patent infringement suits in the United States, naming nine defendants.

Founded in 2000 by former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold, IV has earned nearly $2 billion by licensing patents; it also funds inventions in-house with its own team of experts. The defendants in these actions were reportedly all first approached by IV and were invited to take licences but declined to do so. According to Melissa Finocchio, Intellectual Venture's chief litigation counsel:

"The company has said, and I would agree, that litigation is not the most efficient way to monetize inventions. But it has always said that litigation is an option that it has at its disposal".

Given IV's fascinating history and commercial track record, PatLit wonders if the company is going to innovate in its patent enforcement strategy too. All will surely soon be revealed.

Source: Law.com. Further reading: IV's press release here