Boot up: Google's phone wish, Moto patent thrown out, EC v Samsung, and more - The Guardian (blog)

Intellectual Ventures is not run by amateurs, of course. In the same way that no one has actually ever seen Keyser Söze, the ficticious Hungarian mafioso described in the film The Usual Suspects, few companies have been sued by Intellectual Ventures. But its agents, or in this case, shell corporations, are legendary. Everyone knows they are out there, but no one seems to know who they are.

That is because to the best of our knowledge, until now, there has been no publicly available list of Intellectual Ventures shell corporations, unless you count the USPTO assignment database, which contains millions of other records as well. In fact, in response to recent queries about their shell corporations, Intellectual Ventues stated, "Those interested in viewing granted patents and patent applications can search the USPTO's public database."

So that's what we did.

Like all of the USPTO's on-line systems, the assignment database is a technological abomination--sadly ironic for the agency that effectively manages the nation's technology rights.