Wednesday Shorts: Myhrvold Stalks, EPO Strikes, Lehman Sinks

Nathan Myhrvold and Intellectual Ventures Set for Big Patent Play: over the last few years, Intellectual Ventures (IV) has amassed a whopping 20,000-plus patents and patent applications related to everything from lasers to computer chips. IV now ranks among the world's largest patent-holders -- and the company is ready to press tech giants to sign some of the costliest patent-licensing deals ever negotiated. From the Wall Street Journal: "Tech Guru Riles the Industry By Seeking Huge Patent Fees."

Also read transcript from WSJ interview here. According to Myhrvold, "All of this fear is from people who have guilty knowledge of their own actions. There are lots of major tech companies that grew from zero to gigantically successful in a very short period of time without investing in their own inventions. They got there by using other people's inventions."


EPO Patent Examiners Preparing for Revolt: Tomorrow, EPO examiners are preparing to go on strike for a day, claiming that the EPO Administrative Council "puts profits before patent quality." Furthermore, the examiner union is claiming that "the confidence of the workforce in the EPO President, Alison Brimelow, and her Vice-Presidents is very low. According to internal staff survey conducted in June 2008, only 6% of the workforce have confidence in the management qualities of this body. And only 9% of the patent examiners believe that Brimelow and the Vice-Presidents actively promote patent quality.”

But is the union being completely honest here? Joff Wild, over at the IAM blog, has the complete story here.


RFID Patents Surge In Korea: According to Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the number of patents filed for RFID technologies has grown by 60%. In 2001, about 70 applications were filed. That number grew to 186 in 2003, 892 in 2005 and 1,201 in 2007. The most active assignees are ETRI (293 patents), Samsung Electronics (209 patents), SK Telecom (140 patents) and LG Innotek (117 patents). Read more here.


Lehman Brothers - What About their Patent Portfolio? after last night's creditors committee meeting, there is a distinct possibility that Lehman will file a motion to approve a break-up fee and bid procedures for an asset sale. So what will they do with their patents and patent applications? Good question.

It appears that Lehman "proper" has only 9 issued patents, but possesses a much larger collection of patent applications (70+). Also, Lehman holds approximately 11 patents as a collateral agent for a company called Serena Software International, and an additional 10 patents as a security agent for Danish company CFS Slagelse A/S. See the PTO listing of Lehman patents and patent applications here. Total Lehman patent holdings are estimated to be over 500 patents and patent applications.

Interestingly, in December 2007, the PTO issued US Patent 7,310,618, titled "Automated loan evaluation system", which disclosed a system that would “… remove some of this guesswork and provide a reliable, fair, and consistent evaluation for all loans, including sub-prime loans.” The assignee? Lehman Brothers Inc. (Hat Tip: Best Mode Blog)