PUBLIC RADIO'S THIS AMERICAN LIFE TO TAKE ON PATENT TROLLS

The financial crisis, DIY cryogenics, the love songs of Phil Collins -- This American Life has taken on a lot in its 15-plus years on public radio. This week the Ira Glass-helmed show tackles a matter close to our hearts: the patent wars. The show has devoted the entirety of episode 441 to the seedy world of patent trolling. The TAL team focuses in on the practices of Intellectual Ventures, a name that should ring some bells and rattle some bank accounts around these parts. Check out the link to the episode and why not subscribe to the podcast while you're there?

RIM GETS ACCESS TO INTELLECTUAL VENTURES VAST CATALOG OF PATENTS

Research In Motion has reached an agreement with Intellectual Ventures that will provide the Canadian BlackBerry manufacturer with access to the company’s library of over 30,000 patents. With other technology giants engaged in a seemingly endless loop of lawsuits , RIM is hoping to provide itself legal cover for future smartphone innovations by purchasing the rights to this war chest of intellectual property.

“Intellectual Ventures offers an efficient way to access the invention rights companies need to stay competitive within the market,” said Mario Obeidat, Intellectual Ventures’ head of telecom licensing. The patent holding company was founded by former Microsoft CTO, Nathan Myhrvoid, in 2000, and boasts both Samsung and HTC as its other high-profile, mobile clients. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.