Peter N. Detkin was a managing partner and 20% owner of

Intellectual Ventures Intellectual Ventures is an American private equity company that centers on the development and licensing of intellectual property. Intellectual Ventures is one of the top-five owners of U.S. patents, as of 2011. Its business model focuses on b ...

. He is currently the Managing Director of the Sherpa Technology Group.

Biography

He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, with a B.S.E.E. in 1982 and J.D. in 1985. He worked as a

patent attorney A patent attorney is an attorney who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice, such as filing patent applications and o ...

for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati of

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, becoming a partner in 1992 Following this, he worked as Vice President and assistant

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

in charge of patents, litigation, licensing and antitrust/

competition law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...

for

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

, and later became one of four founders of Intellectual Ventures. Detkin now allegedly owns approximately 20% of Intellectual Ventures Management Company, generating approximately $10-$20M annually in "management fees" for managing Intellectual Ventures Funds. This is ironic because Intellectual Ventures has been described as a "

patent troll In international law and business, patent trolling or patent hoarding is a categorical or pejorative term applied to a person or company that attempts to enforce patent rights against accused infringers far beyond the patent's actual value or ...

", and Detkin helped popularize this as a pejorative term while at Intel. Detkin and Intellectual Ventures were prominently featured in an episode of

This American Life ''This American Life'' is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is ...

on patent issues. He is an inactive member of the bars of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and licensed to represent

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

s before the U.S. Patent Office. Detkin serves on the Board of Overseers for University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science. He provided support for the Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering to build a new principle teaching laboratory, The Detkin Lab. He also contributed a gift to Penn Law School to establish an intellectual property and technology legal clinic, Detkin Intellectual Property and Technology Legal Clinic. Detkin is active with the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, serving as a Board Member and past-President. Detkin is on the Board of Directors for the Humane Society of Silicon Valley (HSSV). His wife, Michelle Oates Detkin, is a retired attorney having worked in real estate law and in commercial law at Intel. Together they live in Los Altos with their adopted dog Chloe (an HSSV alum) and cats Joey and Danica (also HSSV alumni) and Blake. October 2021 HSSV announced that it received a $10 million multi-year investment from Michelle Oates Detkin and Peter Detkin to expand access to veterinary care, especially for families impacted by economic challenges. This was the largest financial commitment made to HSSV since its founding in 1929.

References

Living people American patent attorneys Year of birth missing (living people) University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni {{US-business-bio-stub