Two years ago, we did a program about a mysterious business in Texas that threatens companies with lawsuits for violating its patents. But the world of patent lawsuits is so secretive, there were basic questions we could not answer. Now we can. And we get a glimpse why people say our patent system may be discouraging, not encouraging, innovation.
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When Patents Attack! | This American Life
Why would a company rent an office in a tiny town in East Texas, put a nameplate on the door, and leave it completely empty for a year? The answer involves a controversial billionaire physicist in Seattle, a 40 pound cookbook, and a war waging right now, all across the software and tech industries.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack
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When Patents Attack… Part Two!
Two years ago, we did a program about a mysterious business in Texas that threatens companies with lawsuits for violating its patents. But the world of patent lawsuits is so secretive, there were basic questions we could not answer. Now we can.
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Original video: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/496/when-patents-attack-part-two?act=1
Downloaded by http://huffduff-video.snarfed.org/ on Thu, 01 Jun 2017 19:13:07 GMT Available for 30 days after download -
This American Life - 441: When Patents Attack!
Why would a company rent an office in a tiny town in East Texas, put a nameplate on the door, and leave it completely empty for a year? The answer involves a controversial billionaire physicist in Seattle, a 40 pound cookbook, and a war waging right now, all across the software and tech industries.
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ACT ONE: There’s a derogatory term in Silicon Valley for companies that amass huge troves of patents and make money by threatening lawsuits: "patent trolls." When Jeff Kelling’s Internet company Fototime was sued - along with more than 130 other companies - for violating someone’s patent, he wondered if it was a troll (which the company denies), and then settled out of court.
ACT TWO NPR reporter Laura Sydell and This American Life producer/Planet Money co-host Alex Blumberg tell the story of Intellectual Ventures, which is accused of being the largest of the patent trolls. The investigation takes them to a small town in Texas, where they find a hallway full of empty companies with no employees. (29 minutes)business • legal system
ACT THREE Laura and Alex continue their story about Intellectual Ventures and the practice of patent trolling. They learn why the buying and selling of patents is likely to continue being a huge, controversial business that affects the entire tech industry. (23 minutes) Correction: The broadcast version of this story misidentified one of the winning bidders of Nortel’s patents as Nokia instead of Ericsson.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack
Tagged with this american life 441 when patents attack
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RadioWest 10/3/11: When Patents Attack!
A new cold war is raging in America. Patents are the weapons and "trolls" are the soldiers as tech and software companies battle for market supremacy. That’s according to an investigation by NPR Planet Money cohorts Laura Sydell and Alex Blumberg. They join Doug on Monday to talk about the billionaire-backed company that’s one of the most intimidating patent trolls out there, the battleground town of 24,000 people in East Texas and how patents became the tech industry equivalent of a broadsword.
Tagged with patents this american life
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When Patents Attack … Part Two! : Planet Money : NPR
In 2011, a company called Oasis Research sued more than a dozen tech companies it said were violating its patent for online data backup. Now that the litigation has ended, we get a rare look inside the world of patent lawsuits and find out just how much money was at stake.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/06/07/188370495/when-patents-attack-part-two
Tagged with patents cit-comp6023 cit-comp7004 cit-legs8007
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From The Birth Of The iPhone To An Era Of Lawsuits : All Tech Considered : NPR
On the eve of the next trial in the continuing patent war between Apple and Samsung, one of the iPhone’s original designers is speaking out publicly for the first time.
Tagged with patents cit-comp6023 apple
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The Leonard Lopate Show * Email * Share * Print * Like This Ira Glass on “This American Life” on TV
Ira Glass, host of Peabody Award-winning radio program “This American Life,” talks about the show and about creating the “This American Life” television series, which was originally shown only on Showtime but is now on Current TV and available on basic cable.
Tagged with ira glass interview current tv this american life
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It’s Showtime for Ira Glass, ‘This American Life’
Ira Glass is the host of the popular public radio program This American Life. A TV version of his show will premiere on Showtime in March. What will it be like to make the transition?
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WTF - Episode 117 - Ira Glass
Ira Glass hosts the world’s most popular podcast and one of the best radio shows in history. Marc talks with the host of This American Life about his insecurities as a radio personality, his philosophy of storytelling, and his impressions of Marc as a broadcaster. Plus, Ira decontstructs Marc’s pitch for a This American Life story.
Tagged with ira glass this american life podcast interview wtf marc maron