| Ask: How is the patent being used? If the patent holder is not manufacturing a product but is threatening to sue others based on the patent, it's trolling. IV manufactures nothing. However, through shell corporations, they threaten to sue others. This motivates their targets to participate in the IV pools and IV takes a cut. This idea of threatening enforcement where the patent holder has no intent to ever manufacture is not something new. But no one ever liked it when it happened. That's because it serves no apparent purpose in bringing products to the market. What makes IV unique is that Myrvold used his own money to start IV and start acquiring patents from patent holders in bulk. This was no small investment. His idea is to make trolling a business. Instead of trying to fix a problem, he has opted to exacerbate it for his own profit. He is engaging in exactly the type of conduct companies like the one he worked for had to be in constant fear of: the small inventor who will never be successful in the marketplace but who has received some patents that she can, at her discretion, enforce against some large companies that are successful in the marketplace. For an interesting approach to how patents might be used, consult the history of Hans Bessemer. He produced some of the most valuable intellectual property in America's history. He made Carnegie the world's wealthiest individual. Also, note that Paul Allen, one of the wealthiest men on the planet, tried some pure patent trolling a number of years ago. Why? He failed miserably. But what drives someone to try this? |