I just heard the news that Intellectual Ventures formed a political action committee, apparently to lobby against patent reform. It’s certainly an interesting use of IV’s funds at a time when the company is laying off workers.
I completely understand IV’s desire to improve its image. But I think that this move will be perceived kind of like potholes forming a PAC to lobby against road maintenance.
At some point, IV may just have to face the reality that the hate directed towards it isn’t just about a poor product launch. Americans instinctively don’t like it when someone comes along to claim a piece of something he didn’t have any part in building, but that’s how IV makes its money.
Intellectual VenturesThe largest patent aggregator, currently holding around 40,000 patents. Closely associated with co-founder Nathan Myhrvold. IV is often viewed as a patent assertion entity, although much of its activities are conducted through spinoffs, and the company is at least nominally in the business of producing inventions in-house. See our posts on Intellectual Ventures. can buy political ads and donate to candidates, but I really don’t think patent trolling is going to become politically popular, no matter how much IV spends.
