| HN Mirror

This laser mosquito killer is, and always has been, a PR whitewashing campaign for Intellectual Venture's reputation.

This device has never been built, never been purchasable, and it is ALWAYS brought up whenever IV wants to talk about how cool they are.

And I say this as someone who loosely knows and was friends with a few people that worked there. They brought up this same invention when they were talking about their work. They eventually soured on the company, once they saw the actual sausage being made.

IV is a patent troll, shaking down people doing the real work of developing products.

They trot out this invention, and a handful of others, to appear like they are a public benefit. Never mind that most of these inventions don't really exist, have never been manufactured.

They hide the extent of their holdings, they hide the byzantine network of shell companies they use to mask their holdings, and they spend a significant amount of their money lobbying (bribing).

Why do they need to hide all of this?

Look at their front page, prominently featuring the "Autoscope", for fighting malaria. Fighting malaria sounds great, they're the good guys, right? Now do a bit of web searching to try to find out what the Autoscope is and where it's being used. It's vaporware press release articles going back 8 years.

Look at their "spinouts" page, and try to find any real substance at all on these companies. It is all gossamer, marketing speak with nothing behind it when you actually go looking for it.

Meanwhile, they hold a portfolio of more than 40,000 patents, and they siphon off billions from the real economy. Part of their "licensing agreement" is that you can't talk badly about them after they shake you down, or else the price goes up.

They are rent-seeking parasites.