Summary: A Microsoft patent troll gives birth to another trollish tentacle (one among literally thousands), this one called "Xinova" but formerly known as Invention Development Fund (IDF)

THE patent troll named Intellectual Ventures (IV), which reportedly has thousands of satellites, is no exception to the norm. Like all trolls, it is suffering right now and there are also layoffs, departures etc. But we need to keep track of the thugs when they leave and land elsewhere, as they can potentially resurface to serve the same goals from different umbrellas.

There is some branching out right now, or some firm coming out of Intellectual Ventures. The trolls' mouthpiece, IAM, calls it by the euphemism "development fund". The firm itself describes "Xinova" as merely a rebrand, or "the new name for the company formerly known as Invention Development Fund (IDF)" (exact quote from the source itself).

Are they just nymshifting like MOSAID, another Microsoft-connected troll which is now known as "Conversant"?

IAM wrote: "Speaking to Bloomberg earlier this month, CEO Thomas Kang, who was brought in to head up Xinova when it completed its separation from IV last September, said that while the enterprise remains unprofitable – as was the case while under the aegis of IV – it currently makes “tens of millions” of dollars in revenue." Well, it doesn't even need to be profitable if its goal is merely to harass lots of companies on behalf of some company or companies (like Microsoft).

“...the enterprise remains unprofitable – as was the case while under the aegis of IV...”
      --IAMIAM says the firm "makes “tens of millions” of dollars in revenue." One can imagine where that money comes from. The source for IAM is this article from the 8^th of February. The summary says "Xinova was recently spun out from Nathan Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures. Inventions include a spray-on coating to keep cattle clean."

Watch out for Xinova because it sounds like a truly nasty firm that not only develops nothing but also brews/engineers ruinous, frivolous patent lawsuits. ⬆