Intellectual Ventures Tied To 1,300 Shell Companies

dgharmon writes "New research (PDF) shows that Intellectual Ventures is tied to at least 1,300 shell companies whose sole purpose is to coerce real companies into buying patent license that they don't want or need. Those who resist the 'patent trolls' are dragged into nightmarish lawsuits."

Old news

[jeti]

This American Life reported this over a year ago. The podcast is well worth hearing:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack/ [thisamericanlife.org]

Re:What happened to the days of hitmen?

[andydread]

Yep .. See Oracle vs Google. If Oracle had asked for a reasonable ransom maybe Google would have just payed it and be done with it. However Oracle asked for billions of dollars and so Google told them to go fuck sand. So the sued and many of their patents got re-examined and thrown out by the USPTO while other patents were found by the jury NOT to have been infringed by Google. This is the nightmare scenario that trolls fear. Also, see Judge Willian Alsup and Judge Richard Posner. Its mostly in the Eastern District of Texas they can consistently get a away with this crap.

Re:What happened to the days of hitmen?

[amiga3D]

Apple is one of the few patent trolls that actually produces a product. They don't have to live in fear. They have lots of money, lots of patents, and a huge market with an actual profit margin. They're a beast.

Re:What happened to the days of hitmen?

[__aaltlg1547]

In the usual parlance, the fact that Apple makes competing products clears the of the trolling charge. They only sue direct competitors AFAICT. When you competewith Apple you know you're competimg and you know you could be sued. Trolls lie in wait with patents you don't expect because they don't make a product you could compete with.

Give IV a break.

[sconeu]

They're doing G-d's Work [geekwire.com].

Re:Wow... Organized Crime?

[joocemann]

It is illegal to conspire or collude for the purpose of extortion, and it is also illegal to burden the courts with persistent unreasonable litigation.

The real Mob conducts their 'crime' in similar ways that, on the surface, appear legal. What you see in movies/HBO is not what really goes down.

This documentary will stream on netflix. You will see why it was hard for the FBI to crack down on the Mob -- that they conducted themselves very much within the scheme of what has the appearance of legal activity.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/43392317/?__source=vty [cnbc.com]|mobmoney|&par=vty

If you don't watch it to learn what I mean, I'll give you a breakdown of one example given in the film.

1) Dude1: decides to build a new construction in a place with mob influence.

2) Wiseguy1/Wiseguy2 stop by and have a casual conversation about how Dude1 *will* buy his concrete from "Legit Company A", a company that charges about $1/cu.ft. over normal market prices.

If Dude1 agrees, life goes on as normal and it would appear that Dude1 isn't a good shopper.

If Dude1 disagrees....

3) Deliveries from various orders needed for the business never come.
4) Protests/Picket-lines show up at the build site.

If Dude1 still disagrees.....

5) Wiseguy1/Wiseguy2 have a physical intervention that changes Dude1's mind, or ends Dude1.

---------

It isn't a reach to say that the topic at hand follows these same 'on paper' techniques to extort money. It is very much the same a minor difference being that the lawyers don't actually do physical intimidation, but rather legal.

I hope this has been informative.

Re:What happened to the days of hitmen?

[rtb61]

Fine, Apple is a patent douche, happy now?

Re:What happened to the days of hitmen?

[phantomfive]

I think he programmed previously as a hobby, but he learned Java for the trial.