Verizon Patent Case Marks a First for Intellectual Ventures
Large patent hoarder Intellectual Ventures says it's taking a new customer-friendly approach. The company, which owns around 30,000 patents, for the first time assigned one of its members a patent to use as ammunition in a lawsuit. Verizon Communications, which agreed to pay IV as much as $350 million in a 2008 deal, is using one of IV's patents to strike back at TiVo in a patent fight. This is new talk from IV, whose secrecy and vague business plans have caused big tech companies to worry in the past.
