The Politics Of Patent Reform

People were surprised when all the major unions suddenly stepped up as being against patent reform. Mike Masnick says a lawsuit now sheds light on why. “Turns out there was a lot more going on behind the scenes, and…giant patent hoarder Intellectual Ventures (was) throwing its weight (and cash) around. …they asked (Pat Choate) to head a project to stop patent reform, with part of the strategy being: get unions to oppose patent reform. As part of this, Choate was to be paid $30,000 a month. They also asked him to try to keep Intellectual Venture’s involvement in derailing patent reform quiet, since top investors in IV, such as Bill Gates, supported patent reform.”