Intellectual Ventures

Intellectual Ventures, a patent troll that similarly applies and purchases patents and sue product developers for royalties. An article in 2012 said they maybe the largest worldwide patent holder. This troll is a little different in that they themselves not only purchase patents for their own use and launch lawsuits, but also sell them to other smaller trolls. They have launched lawsuits against companies in software security, DRAM and flash memory, and FPGA. In total it’s believed that they have made around 2 billion dollars from licensing and acquiring patents to and from these large companies. There is a well-written article I have posted below that describes how often times the party suing and being sued develop a “cozy relationship” to mutually benefit from, which may lead us to revaluate our views on big corporations and the true meaning of intellectual property.

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2010/12/09/intellectual-ventures-becomes-patent-troll-public-enemy-1/id=13711/