Washington Post reporter Catherine Ho discusses the hiring of Russ Merbeth as well as Intellectual Ventures’ lobbying efforts. The article provides a brief description of IV’s lobbying history and reasoning for providing a more consistent presence in Washington D.C.

IP Watchdog guest blogger, Manus Cooney, examined the GAO study concerning the consequences of litigation by non-practicing entities. This article provides an overview of the study and suggests that there is no patent litigation crisis.

Former Republican Senator for Arizona, John Kyl, explains that strong protection for intellectual property helps create a strong creative ecosystem and drives economic growth in our society.

Gene Quinn, blogger for IP Watchdog, examines the AUTM U.S. Licensing Activity Survey, which specifically targeted the economic impact of academic technology transfer. He explains that the term ‘NPE’ is extremely misleading, and explains that Universities, a type of NPE, have laid the foundation for thousands of startup companies that are on the cutting edge of research and innovation.

David Teece, professor and director of the Institute for Business Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, analyzes President Obama’s campaign against patent trolls. Teece expresses doubts with many of the proposed ‘fixes’ for the patent system, saying that they wouldn’t do much about troll-like behavior, and could hurt legitimate innovators.