in the popular press, myhrvold and intellectual ventures have been repeatedly accused of acting as patent trolls and stifling innovation by buying patents and then forcing inventors to license their ideas by means of litigation. walt mossberg interviewed myhrvold about intellectual ventures' role as a "patent troll" during the 10th annual all things digital conference. this american life's laura sydell ran an investigative story about patent trolling and intellectual ventures' role in that business.