In a 2012 interview, Andy Elder described Intellectual Ventures’ patent-licensing work as a form of business-to-business selling: understand what a company needs, then match that need to patents or invention expertise. His “used cars” comparison was a sales metaphor, not a story about car shopping. Elder was then IV’s executive vice president for global licensing; he left the company in 2014.
Who was Andy Elder at Intellectual Ventures?
Todd Bishop’s May 8, 2012 GeekWire interview presented Elder as the executive responsible for Intellectual Ventures’ global licensing business. The article described IV at that time as an 800-person patent-licensing company and invention house, with a 60-person licensing team under Elder. It reported a portfolio of 35,000 patents and patent applications and named American Express, LG Electronics, Wistron and Cypress Semiconductor in connection with deals. These are historical figures and reporting from 2012, not current company statistics.
Elder did not remain in the role. GeekWire reported in 2014 that he had resigned and would leave at the end of April; Leslie Canning and Cory Van Arsdale were to handle the interim handoff. The departure report makes clear why the interview should be read as a portrait of IV’s licensing work at that moment, not a description of its current leadership.
What did the “used cars” analogy mean?
Elder was explaining how he approached a sales conversation. His emphasis was on discovering what would be valuable to the prospective customer and then shaping IV’s offering around that objective. As he put it, “For me, it’s very much about how do I understand what would be valuable to you in your company, and how do I make sure I overachieve on that.”
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The comparison was about selling, not about the quality of patents or the mechanics of buying a used vehicle. In his account, a licensing discussion began with the company’s needs rather than a generic pitch of IV’s portfolio. That is Elder’s description of his method, not independent evidence that every deal worked that way or delivered the intended value.
Were companies licensing patents to build products or defend themselves?
Elder described both motivations. A company might license patents to gain access to technology it wanted to use in products; another might seek a license as protection against claims concerning its business. The interview therefore framed licensing as serving both product creation and risk management, rather than as a single-purpose transaction.
Those purposes are not interchangeable. Access to technology is about obtaining rights relevant to a product or business plan. Defensive licensing is about addressing exposure to patent claims. The 2012 interview gives Elder’s account of these uses, but it does not assess the merits of particular patent claims or establish that a license eliminates all legal risk.
What was the “invention network”?
Elder also described an invention service for companies facing a difficult technical problem. A company could submit the problem, after which IV would bring inventors together to brainstorm possible solutions. He said rights to resulting inventions could be licensed, exclusively when appropriate.
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This was distinct from licensing an existing patent portfolio: the first approach starts with rights IV already holds, while the network description starts with a problem and a collaborative effort to develop a solution. The interview recounts how Elder described the service in 2012; it does not establish whether that particular request-for-invention offer remains available today.
How did Elder describe litigation and the business relationship?
The interview placed IV’s licensing work amid public controversy, noting lawsuits and a critical segment by This American Life. Elder said he preferred resolving business problems around intellectual property and called that approach “a no-brainer.” He also said litigation was not an efficient way to have a business relationship.
That is Elder’s stated preference, not a neutral verdict on every patent dispute. Licensing negotiations and litigation can reflect opposing views about ownership, infringement, or the value of a patent; the interview does not independently evaluate those disputes or establish that negotiation is always possible or appropriate.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does Intellectual Ventures say about its licensing business now?
IV’s current leadership page names Nathan Myhrvold as founder and CEO and lists the executive team. Its Invention Investment Fund page continues to describe patent licensing. The company says it has invested more than $3 billion across more than 1,000 distinct patent transactions and generated billions of dollars in licensing revenue over the past 20 years. These are company-reported figures; the page does not provide an independently audited total or exact endpoints for that 20-year period.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →The current fund page describes IV’s present public-facing licensing business, but it does not establish that the service model Elder outlined in 2012 is unchanged. The company’s contact page directs prospective licensees and patent acquirers to the fund’s Global Licensing and Patent Sales team.
IV’s leadership page also reports that Myhrvold has been awarded 900 U.S. patents and has several hundred pending. That, too, is the company’s own figure, not an independently verified count.
What “invention capital” meant in the interview
The 2012 article described Nathan Myhrvold as hoping to create a market for “invention capital.” In context, the idea was to treat invention and patent rights as something that could be developed, financed, and licensed—not only as a byproduct of a company’s own product-development department. The phrase is Bishop’s characterization of Myhrvold’s ambition, not a direct quotation from Myhrvold in the interview.
The profile offers a window into how one senior IV executive explained that model: license existing rights, help companies address technical problems through invention work, and seek commercial outcomes through business discussions. It is a historical account of Elder’s perspective, not an independent evaluation of the model’s results.
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