Patent Firm Woos Inventors

An anonymous reader writes "C|Net has an article up discussing a new way to win the patent race; hook up with the inventors." From the article: "'They are more concept type of patents. It is a very blue sky kind of thing,' Langer said of the patents that Intellectual Ventures is trying to develop. By contrast, the type of patents that Langer continues to file on his own are typically based on several years of lab research and targeted at very specific ideas, he said. Other researchers working with the firm include Eric Leuthardt, a neurosurgeon with St. Louis' Washington University, and Muriel Ishikawa, a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "

Comments

Scam Site

[pHatidic]

What the hell is this doing on Slashdot? What next, Slashvertising for Russian kiddy porn makers?

So basically...

[nonlnear]

Intellectual Ventures is a kinder gentler patent troll? Yes, I did RTFA. It's just a puff piece that drops the words "new" and "controversial" to snag the uninformed reader. From the second paragraph:

In the past year or so, Intellectual Ventures has emerged as one of the more controversial companies in the tech industry. The company is filing patents, but also buying patents from defunct companies, independent inventors and others.

One telling excerpt reveals the truth:

The company is filing about 300 patent applications a year, but so far has only been granted one patent. Typically, the company will not seek royalties until the patent is granted. Lawsuits have also not been filed. Some deals may be announced in a few months.

So they haven't started shooting the lawsuit shotgun because they don't have enough ammo yet. And yes, I did read the part about how they work with some big names actively developing their ideas. But these are people who would be inventing anyways. This company is just a convenient way of outsourcing the legalese.

what to do?

[asadodetira]

Let's supose you have an interesting idea but don't have the time or resources to file a patent, develop a prototype or put them into practice. What should you do? * Forget about it? * Disclose it into the public domain and not get a penny? * Are there easy ways to get the idea to interested developers in such a way that you would get at least some small royalties if the patent is sucessful? Also there are a lot of scams for would-be inventors out there.

Re:what to do?

[NeutronCowboy]

Let's supose you have an interesting idea but don't have the time or resources to file a patent, develop a prototype or put them into practice. What should you do?

I'm sorry - are you actually proposing to patent ideas? Let's see - I've got an idea for a foo widget that I think will solve hunger, bring world peace and slay cancer. It works as follows:

1) Build foo.
2) Hunger is solved, world peace is here and cancer is no more.

Should I actually get a patent on this? Can I then sue everybody who builds a gadget that actually will kill cancer or solve world hunger?

If you are too lazy, incompetent or ignorant to actually prove that your idea actually works (as opposed to having an idea and then suing the people who actually managed to implement your idea), you should not get a patent. Ideas are like assholes - everybody has one, and they all stink. Come back when your idea is an actual product, and then we'll talk. Until then, you'd be nothing but a lazy profiteer trying to get paid for daydreaming.

Re:what to do?

[NeutronCowboy]

True. In which case they can hook up with people who have money and then they work on putting a product out. But no product, no patent. And if they are worried about their ideas being stolen by the people with money, tough beans. No product, no patent.

And if they're not a risk taker, even more tough beans. Part of the idea behind a patent is that it rewards risk taking. If you don't take the risk to lose it all, you don't get to enjoy the benefits of a monopoly when you succeed.

Somehow, I get the impression that the entire concept of idea-patents is based around the notion that people are entitled to get money - loads of money - just because they can dream big. The key word here is *entitled*. I've got news for you: there is no such thing as entitlement, and the world is a cruel, hard place. If you can't make it big on your own, it probably is a sign that you should focus on making it small.

Watch out inventors!

[Anonymous Coward]

FTFA: Lawyers and executives that were asked by CNET News.com to comment on the company have largely asserted that Intellectual Ventures would likely generate its revenue from the legal system, but also admitted they didn't have direct or exact insight into the business plan. (These sources have also requested anonymity.)

Read VERY CAREFULLY and get LEGAL ADVICE before signing anything with these folks. Ask around for a lawyer that SPECIALISES in patents.

Here in Atlanta, there's a magazine issue (Atlanta - I know lameness filter alert!) that comes out once a year that has the attorneys that OTHER lawyers want to hire for THEIR problems.

Re:Stupidity

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

The evidence indicates it's in the public domain.

Intellectual Ventures *IS* a Patent Troll

[cheesedog]

Myhrvold continues to maintain that his massive patent holding firm is all about hiring inventors and doing brand new stuff. Yet their own history is not on their side. With 3000 patents in their portfolio already, the young age of the firm, and normal patent pendancy of about 3 years, the only way they could have built this portfolio is by purchasing patents from dead companies or other patent trolls and paper inventors. Myhrvold is continually disengenuous about what they do, and the evidence is not in their favor (they almost spent $15 million on the XML patent portfolio before Novell got it and released it to the commons).

My verdict: Troll to the Xth Degree!