Nathan Myhrvold: ‘Nasa doesn’t want to admit it’s wrong about asteroids’; The Observer via The Guardian, June 24, 2018

Zoe Corbyn, The Observer via The Guardian; Nathan Myhrvold: ‘Nasa doesn’t want to admit it’s wrong about asteroids’

"In 2000, you left Microsoft and set up Intellectual Ventures, which primarily buys and licenses patents. The business is often vilified as one of the world’s biggest “patent trolls”. Why do you think people find it so loathsome? 

I fundamentally think what we do is good. It is hard for me to get too worked up about figuring out why it is bad. Any patent holder who enforces their rights gets called a patent troll. Silicon Valley feels very threatened by anything that could challenge its authority. If you are one of the big companies, like Google or Apple, almost no one can challenge you in the market that you’re in. But if somebody has a patent, they can ask for a bunch of money. The more you can get a return from an invention, the better off the world will be. It will lead to more inventions being funded and more inventing...

President Trump is going after China’s intellectual property theft. Given your experience, can he succeed in curbing it? 

The theft of intellectual property by Chinese companies is a very serious issue. It’s not just private companies in China or little companies. A large amount of it is state-owned enterprise. So, it really is the Chinese government doing it. Exactly how to solve that issue, I don’t know. You need the Chinese government to be very serious about it, but so far they haven’t been. In my experience in business, you mostly do better with negotiating in quiet diplomacy, not with brinksmanship. But I’ve never built luxury hotels and golf courses. Maybe it is different there."

More Patent Trolls Are Targeting Startups. Here's What You Can Do.; Entrepreneur, April 10, 2018

Nathaniel Borenstein, Entrepreneur; More Patent Trolls Are Targeting Startups. Here's What You Can Do.

"Startups aren't typically founded by lawyers, so patent law isn't usually a front line issue for them. But I've come to realize that patent protection is at best No. 11 on the top 10 list of things for startups to focus on -- something they generally understand is important, but not quite important enough. Part of that is because the headlines focus on big lawsuits lobbed at big companies, which creates a false sense of security. As an inventor and a computer scientist with 25-plus years of practical experience, I'd like to think I've navigated the murky, complicated world of patents and come out on the other side wiser and more informed. And, as such, there is something I want entrepreneurs, inventors and early-stage businesses to know. Yes, you are a potential target for patent trolls, and yes, there is something you can do about it. Today."

Patent Trolls Target Small Businesses With Lawsuit Threats. Here's How One Startup Fought Back; Inc., February 22, 2018

Minda Zetlin, Inc.; Patent Trolls Target Small Businesses With Lawsuit Threats. Here's How One Startup Fought Back

"Why are they targeting small businesses?

For years, these entities made their money by suing or threatening to sue large corporations with deep pockets. This worked well because they could take advantage of the rule that companies can be sued anywhere they do business, and large companies tend to do business in every state. Patent trolls found a few federal court districts where they had greater odds of winning. From their point of view, life was good.

But in May 2017, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that companies could only be sued for patent infringement in the state where they reside. That made collecting much harder for patent assertion entities. Many turned their attention to small companies and startups for which the cost of defending a patent case could pose an existential threat. They began sending letters containing a simple proposition: Pay us a (relatively reasonable) one-time fee and we'll sell you a permanent license and drop our planned lawsuit."

A Boston firm labeled a ‘patent troll’ by some says it is actually performing a service; Boston Globe, July 29, 2017

Andy Rosen, Boston Globe; A Boston firm labeled a ‘patent troll’ by some says it is actually performing a service

"Whether known by the pejorative “patent troll” or the more plaintiff-friendly “patent assertion entity,” such repeat claimants generally keep a low profile.

Not Blackbird. Verlander and her staff display their pictures, bios, and links to social media on a company website that says Blackbird helps inventors who are outmatched by big companies with little incentive to respond to claims not backed by expensive lawyers.

Verlander sees herself as doing a service to combat rhetoric by what she calls the “infringer lobby,” which seeks to conflate all patent assertion work with the more dubious pursuits of unscrupulous trolls. There are bad actors, she said, on all sides.

“If in the end you can’t reward someone for their invention regardless of whether they make a product, then you’re discouraging people from inventing, and that’s bad,” Verlander said."