Aside from being the first CTO of Microsoft, author of Modern Cuisine, and several published research papers, Myhrvold runs Intellectual Ventures, a patent purchasing and licensing firm which has one of the largest patent collections in the world. Myhrvold himself owns 117 patents. He earned a Ph.D in physics rom Princeton and did quantum field theory research with Stephen Hawking. He is also an avid wildlife photographer and dabbles in paleontology. Think of Intellectual Ventures as one part potential patent troll, one part VC. Instead of investing in start-ups, Intellectual Ventures invests in patents. With such a large collection of patents, the firm has the ability to do good and bad, particularly in stifling or accelerating innovation. Intellectual Ventures was also known for spending more than $1 million on lobbying last year, according to public filings by OpenSecret.org. Definitely interesting to check out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/technology/18patent.html?emc=eta1&_r=0
However, many criticize IV as a non-practicing entity that aggressively sues and targets individual companies. NPEs in general have a reputation for causing a net outflow of cash, where little productive economic value is created. I believe IV, just like any NPE, as the ability to abuse its power. However, I agree with Myhrvold that the patent industry is undeveloped and the system is not transparent.
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