Nathan Myhrvold

Founder and CEO
Intellectual Ventures

Myhrvold holds degrees in math, theoretical physics, geophysics and space physics and spent 14 years at Microsoft, where he founded Microsoft Research and many other technology groups. Now at the forefront of the modern patent wars -- with some calling him a dangerous patent troll -- his firm holds (and monetizes) more tech patents than almost any other company. An avid inventor, Myrvold holds hundreds of patents himself, but if you get a chance, ask him about his award-winning cookbook, “Modernist Cuisine.”

Posts With Nathan Myhrvold

Nvidia, Intellectual Ventures Scoop Up Some Wireless Patents as Land Grab Continues

Ina Fried in Mobile on May 14 at 9:58 am PT

Nathan Myhrvold’s patent firm teamed with the graphics chipmaker to buy approximately 500 wireless patents.

More D10 Speakers: Ellison, Meeker, Myhrvold, Along With Pixar and Visa!

Kara Swisher in D10 on April 9 at 2:49 pm PT

Speakers? We got your D10 speakers.

Patent Collector Intellectual Ventures Sues AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile for Infringement

Ina Fried in Mobile on February 16 at 7:44 am PT

Nathan Myhrvold’s intellectual property shop has filed a patent suit against three of the four big U.S. carriers.

Tasty Geek: Nathan Myhrvold Takes His Modernist Cuisine to “Top Chef”

Kara Swisher in Media on January 7 at 10:38 am PT

A side of patent troll pâté anyone?

Firm Uses Crowdsourcing to Help Big Company Clients Fight Off Patent Suits

Ina Fried in News on October 24, 2011 at 4:00 am PT

Article One Partners, which recently opened an office in Palo Alto, is carving out a niche by helping those targeted in lawsuits to invalidate the patents they are accused of infringing.

Intellectual Ventures Joins the Mobile Patent War, Suing Motorola Mobility

Ina Fried in Mobile on October 6, 2011 at 8:21 am PT

The patent amassing firm, which was started by former Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold, said it has filed a patent infringement suit after Motorola refused to license its intellectual property.

And Intellectual Ventures Says Lawsuits Are a Ridiculous Way to Do Business

John Paczkowski in News on July 12, 2011 at 10:44 am PT

Intellectual Ventures sues Hynix, Dell, HP and a slew of other companies for patent infringement.

Dashwire Licenses Patents From Intellectual Ventures As Mobile-Related Litigation Heats Up

Ina Fried in Mobile on April 6, 2011 at 4:32 pm PT

Dashwire is the latest mobile company to become a customer of Nathan Myhrvold’s intellectual property shop. The move comes as the mobile arena is getting increasingly litigious–and it’s not just Nokia, Microsoft and Apple taking to the courts.

RIM Gets Access to Intellectual Ventures’ Pile of Patents

Ina Fried in Mobile on March 30, 2011 at 10:30 am PT

With the deal, RIM gains a warehouse of more than 30,000 patents as it seeks to wind its way through the murky, litigious world that is the modern smartphone business.

Voices

Big Patent Firm Sues Nine Tech Firms

Don Clark, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on December 8, 2010 at 11:20 am PT

Intellectual Ventures LLC, which has spent a decade buying and filing for patents, named nine big technology companies as defendants in its first-ever infringement suits. The closely held firm was co-founded by former Microsoft Corp. chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold, who had avoided litigation for years but never ruled it out.