Mona Locke, a former TV reporter in the Seattle area and the better half of former Seattle governor and the current US ambassador to China Gary Locke, has been named as senior vice president of communications and marketing at Intellectual Ventures.
Locke, who will oversee internal and external communications, public relations, and marketing efforts at Intellectual Ventures (IV), is taking on what is considered to be one of the hardest jobs in innovation. IV is one of the largest holders of US patents, and publically states that its mission is to act as a license broker and company creator, in similar fashion to independent technology transfer offices and commercialisation firms. However, the company’s practices have put them at the centre of an ongoing national debate over patent reform due to allegations of so-called patent trolling.
Patent trolling is the process whereby one organisation aims to build up large portfolios of patents, and either tying patents together to bundle to other companies under license with the threat of litigation, or filing lawsuits for infringements of patents.
The practice is seen as extremely detrimental to innovation in the US, where small startups and university spin-outs can be targeted by patent trolls early on in development of the company, causing massive financial pains for the young firm. The cost of defending a patent infringement suit can be up to $1m prior to trial, and can cost a firm $2.5m for a complete defence, even if the firm turns out to be wrongly accused by the patent troll. In 2011, it was estimated that US businesses had incurred $29bn in direct costs thanks to the activities of patent trolls. Patent trolling is much more prevalent in the US than in Europe due to the English rule, followed by nearly every Western country apart from the US, which demands that the party who loses in a court battle pays the other party’s legal fees.
A 2014 study by Harvard University and Texas University showed that patent trolls stifle innovation on a wide scale, concluded that firms targeted by patent trolls tend to reduce R&D spending, averaging $211m less than firms that win against the trolls. It also found that the predatory practice tends to target firms with less legal representatives on staff, forcing companies to spend more on lawyers and less on innovation. Patent trolls also generally target cash rich companies, even if the money held doesn’t stem from the patent in question, creating a large disincentive for innovation.
Intellectual’s activities in this area have been repeatedly questioned by tech professionals and investigative journalists alike. Shane Robinson, chief technology officer of Hewlett Packard, has accused the company of being a patent troll, purporting that the company acquired patents for the purpose of pressuring companies into paying licensing fees, while Chris Sacca, former Google employee turned venture capitalist and backer of Twitter, has described IV’s alleged practice of offering protection from lawsuits a “mafia-style shakedown”.
Subsequently, the company has attracted significant criticism in the media, and is often used as an example of patent trolling in reports. Locke’s role will look to overcome IV’s negative reputation, and reposition the company’s external image while it continues to come under heavy fire. She will also work with the rest of the company’s leadership to work on IV’s overall strategy.
