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Nathan Myhrvold now the only IV founder with day-to-day, hands-on role at firm following Gorder exit

Intellectual Ventures founder Greg Gorder has left the firm, becoming the latest of the quartet of its founders to step away from the business, following Peter Detkin and Ed Jung. According to his bio, which remains on the IV website, Gorder left earlier this month and will now “focus on his family’s philanthropic activities”. Detkin stood down as vice chairman in January 2015, although he has continued to devote part of his time to IV-related work. Earlier this year he Read more

Richard Lloyd

Korea's new antitrust boss says he'll target patent abuse in the IoT realm

Over the past few years, South Korea’s antitrust regulator has been one of the toughest on issues of intellectual property. Now, the leader of the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) says the body is about to start an inquest focused on how patents affect competition in the Internet of Things (IoT) or 5G space. KFTC chairman Kim Sang-jo mentioned the role of patents in IoT during an appearance Monday at which he outlined five priorities for competition policy. 5G communications, Read more

Jacob Schindler

Red Hat expands its pioneering patent promise to the open source community

Open source software business Red Hat this morning announced a big expansion of its patent promise - the 2002 commitment the company made not assert to its patents against free and open source software. The promise now extends to all of Red Hat’s patents and so offers further defensive cover to the open source community.   The new version, Red Hat states, covers more than 99% of open source software, compared to 35% previously. The new promise also specifically covers Read more

Richard Lloyd

Google to pay $1.1 billion for HTC smartphone R&D team and IP licence rights

A long-rumoured Google-HTC deal finally took shape this morning, as the two companies announced a $1.1 billion “cooperation agreement”. Predictions had ranged from an outright acquisition of HTC by Google to a strategic investment, but the actual arrangement looks to be somewhere in between, with a smartphone R&D team moving over to the US company in exchange for a cash infusion. Notably, it does not look like Google will be acquiring any HTC IP outright, but a licence Read more

Jacob Schindler

Microsoft v Motorola judge criticises recent UK Unwired Planet SEP licensing decision

US district court judge James Robart has taken aim at the decision handed down by Justice Colin Birss in the high profile London High Court SEP/FRAND case of Unwired Planet v Huawei, decided earlier this year. Speaking at the annual IPO meeting in San Francisco yesterday, Robart – who handed down the famous Microsoft v Motorola decision in 2013 and sits in the Western District of Washington - said that Birss was wrong to offer specific royalty rates for the technology in question, rather Read more

Richard Lloyd

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The US's BigTech elite will find it tough to set the patent agenda in Europe

Google is set to appeal the European Commission’s decision to impose a €2.4 billion fine after a finding that the company had abused its dominant position by manipulating search results to favour its own comparison shopping site. In a press release announcing the decision in June, European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager stated: “What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules. It denied other companies the chance to compete on the merits and to innovate. Read more

Joff Wild

Chinese LED maker dips back into patent market with Sony portfolio pickup

Sanan Optoelectronics failed to take over Osram after having its bold $8.2 billion bid rebuffed late last year. But the Chinese LED maker has turned to the patent market to shore up its IP position, most recently buying a pair of portfolios from Sony. As increased scrutiny from regulators in both Europe and the United States threatens to scuttle Chinese firms’ more audacious M&A endeavours, there is still significant scope for them to acquire IP in smaller-scale deals. USPTO Read more

Jacob Schindler

The biggest problem with Allergan’s St Regis Mohawk deal is that the tribe may not own the patents

The transfer of six patents underpinning Allergan’s dry-eye treatment Restasis to the Saint Regis Mohawk native American Indian tribe has electrified the US patent community. The move, designed to make use of the tribe’s sovereign immunity in order to avoid Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) scrutiny of the patents via inter partes reviews (IPRs) could, if successful, drive a coach and horses through the IPR regime – much to the delight of many and to the absolute chagrin Read more

Joff Wild

DSS brings in Singapore money man to save its NYSE American listing; Asia offices planned

US-listed PIPCO Document Security Systems has hired a Singapore businessman to head its international and Asia-focused efforts, according to recent SEC filings. The move comes alongside a stock swap that will ensure the company is not de-listed by regulators for not maintaining enough equity. DSS also says it will open two Asia offices in the near future, as the company’s monetisation project with Korea’s Intellectual Discovery rolls on. A Form 8-K dated September 11th announced Read more

Jacob Schindler

The man who brought patent monetisation to BlackBerry becomes latest big name corporate IP departure

Mark Kokes has left BlackBerry and is no longer its senior vice president of intellectual property, licensing & standards, IAM has learned. In a sudden move, Kokes departed in mid-August and is not thought to have taken another position. For its part, BlackBerry does not seem to have appointed a direct replacement. In a recent press release announcing that Timex had entered into a patent-based agreement with the company, reaction from BlackBerry came from senior director of intellectual Read more

Joff Wild