Bill Gates may no longer be running Microsoft but that doesn’t mean he can’t help his company out in his spare time. Ars Technica reports that the Microsoft cofounder is helping Intellectual Ventures, a patent-holding firm that has in the past sued the Google-owned Motorola, acquire more patents and is listed as a co-inventor on 93 patent applications filed by the firm since 2008. Intellectual Ventures, which was cofounded by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold, has around 70,000 patents in its portfolio even though it doesn’t make any products of its own. Indeed, the firm itself told Ars that its mission was not to make products but to “invest in ideas themselves and make them available to other companies” for a licensing fee.
Proxy war: Bill Gates helps Motorola-suing patent troll get more patents
Published Aug 15th, 2013 7:05PM EDT
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Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.
