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. We take you inside this war, and tell the fascinating story of how an idea enshrined in the US constitution to promote progress and innovation, is now being used to do the opposite.
-
Download Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
- Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe in Apple Podcasts Subscribe
- Transcript
Bill Oxford
Prologue
Act One
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)
Act Two
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.
"When Patents Attack" Infographic
Related
Act Five: On the Court With the Clock Running Down
Act Three: All Our Representatives Are Currently Busy
Act Three: Indecent Proposal
Staff Recommendations
Kindness of Strangers
A locksmith tells the story of an act of kindness he committed, hoping for a small reward. That, and other stories of kindness in New York City.
129 Cars
One car dealership tries to make its monthly quota: 129 cars. It is way more chaotic than we expected.