Patent giant seals deal with Micron
Deal with Intellectual Ventures grants access to patents
By John Letzing, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Intellectual Ventures, the invention and patenting giant led by former Microsoft Corp. executive Nathan Myhrvold, said Tuesday that it has reached an intellectual property agreement with semiconductor firm Micron Technology Inc.
Intellectual Ventures said in a statement that Micron (NASDAQ:MU) has agreed to a deal whereby the company has gained access to Intellectual Ventures’ more than 30,000 patents.
“Micron can acquire patents from IV to help defend against companies that may assert patents against them, and IV has the opportunity to acquire patents from Micron,” Intellectual Ventures said.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. An Intellectual Ventures spokeswoman declined to comment.
Intellectual Ventures has elicited both respect and resentment, as a result of an invention and patenting process that has amassed an intimidating arsenal of intellectual property, which the firm has generally not used to directly produce any products. Intellectual Ventures was founded in 2000.
During a public appearance in March, Myhrvold, who once served as Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) chief technology officer, disclosed that Bellevue, Wash.-based Intellectual Ventures saw $700 million in revenue last year, while its total licensing revenue to that point had grown to roughly $2 billion.
Apart from Micron, companies that have reached licensing deals with Intellectual Ventures include business software firm SAP AG (NYSE:SAP) and Taiwanese mobile device maker HTC Corp.
Intellectual Ventures has said that it has sought to avoid litigation over its intellectual property, though the firm filed lawsuits against nine different firms related to licensing disputes in December.
Defendants in the December litigation included semiconductor firms Elpida Memory Inc. (TOKYO:JP:6665) and Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
“Some companies have chosen to ignore our requests for good faith negotiations and discussions,” Intellectual Ventures said at that time.
Micron general counsel Rod Lewis said in the statement released by Intellectual Ventures on Tuesday that the newly-disclosed agreement “provides Micron strategic access to IV’s substantial patent portfolio to help drive future innovation and continued expansion of our award-winning products.”
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