RIM, Intellectual Ventures Strike Deal

Intellectual Ventures, ex-Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold’s new-wave patent middleman business, has cut a new licensing deal with Research In Motion (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RIMM]]), makers of the BlackBerry smartphone.

As Intellectual Ventures’ senior VP of licensing Don Merino described in today’s in-depth Xconomy interview, licensing deals like this are an increasingly common way that IV is using to make money from its portfolio of more than 30,000 patents. Merino says IV’s holdings can actually function as a bit of a hedge for a company, especially in a category like mobile, where manufacturers own a vertical array of intellectual property but might like to add more, particularly when it comes to legal battles.

Financial terms of the RIM deal weren’t disclosed in today’s announcement. This marks the second big Seattle-area business connection for RIM in recent months: In mid-February, the Canadian company acquired Seattle’s Gist, which combines business contacts with online social profiles to give people a better picture of folks they’re working with.

Author: Curt Woodward

Curt covered technology and innovation in the Boston area for Xconomy. He previously worked in Xconomy’s Seattle bureau and continued some coverage of Seattle-area tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft. Curt joined Xconomy in February 2011 after nearly nine years with The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He worked in three states and covered a wide variety of beats for the AP, including business, law, politics, government, and general mayhem. A native Washingtonian, Curt earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. As a past president of the state's Capitol Correspondents Association, he led efforts to expand statehouse press credentialing to online news outlets for the first time.