Intertrust Technologies Corporation Explained

Intertrust Technologies Corporation
Type:Private
Founded:1990
Founder:Victor Shear
Industry:Computer software
Products:Intertrust Platform, ExpressPlay, MarketMaker, VOX (Virtual Operations Center) and iPKI
Location:Sunnyvale, California

Intertrust Technologies Corporation is a software technology company specializing in trusted distributed computing. Intertrust’s product lines consist of a DataOps platform, Application protection and Content protection solutions.[1] Much of Intertrust's digital rights management (DRM) business is based on the Marlin DRM technology, which Intertrust founded along with four consumer electronics companies: Sony, Panasonic, Philips, and Samsung.[2] [3]

Intertrust is headquartered in Silicon Valley and has offices in Tokyo, Seoul, London, Paris, Mumbai, Beijing, Tallinn, Riga and Bangalore.[4]

History

Victor H. Shear received a BA in sociology from Brandeis University, served as chief executive of Data Scientific Corporation from 1982 to 1985, and then co-founded Personal Library Software.[5] Around 1985, Shear attempted to obtain one of the first US patents for software.[6] For example, one patent covered metering and protecting data on a compact disc from 1986.[7]

The company began under the name Electronic Publishing Resources in January 1990. David M. Van Wie became involved with Intertrust in early 1991. Intertrust's technology, called digital rights management (DRM), enabled trusted transactions, from healthcare, enterprise computing to entertainment and consumer electronics.[8] [9] In 1995, the company announced its technology would be used by Novell.[10] Former Bell Labs Fellow David P. Maher became chief technology officer in 1999.[11] In 1996, Electronic Publishing Resources was renamed Intertrust Technologies.

At the peak of the Internet bubble in October 1999, despite a lack of any earnings, Intertrust had its initial public offering.[12] It was listed on the NASDAQ exchange with symbol ITRU.[13] Within six months, the share price rose from $9 to $35, and a secondary offering on April 12, 2000 raised another $92 million.

In 2001, two companies were acquired: PublishOne, Inc., and ZeroGravity Technologies, and Nokia invested $20 million. However, by the end of 2001 losses had climbed to over $115 million a year, and shares were sometimes trading below $1 each.[14] Workforce reductions and office closures were announced in October 2001 and January 2002, which helped to end the losses.[15] In May 2002, further workforce reductions were announced, and marketing and development of software ceased as the company focused on licensing intellectual property. In early 2003, the company became a joint venture of Philips, Sony and Stephens Inc., and Talal Shamoon was appointed as the CEO[16] [17]

In April 2004, Microsoft settled the 2001 lawsuit, and agreed to pay $440 million to license Intertrust’s patents.[18] [19] The week before the settlement, Microsoft and Time Warner announced they had acquired a majority stake in ContentGuard, a company which developed similar software.

In 2006, the company co-founded the Coral Consortium for content interoperability with Fox, Samsung, Sony, Philips, Panasonic and HP.[20] [21]

Intertrust licensed DRM technologies to large technology and media corporations.[22] The company then developed technology called Marlin, with mixed success. The continued emphasis on intellectual property caused the company to be called a "patent troll".[23] Huawei Technologies announced it would license Marlin in 2011.[24] A 2007 venture using Marlin with Pioneer Corporation called SyncTV had an investment from HTC Corporation in 2012.[25] [26]

A public key infrastructure (PKI) service for Marlin called Seacert was announced in 2011.[27]

Between 2008 and 2016, Intertrust invested in companies that developed synergistic technologies.[28] [29] [30] [31]

In 2010, the company entered into a Latvian-based joint venture called whiteCryption that markets application security technologies.[32] [33]

In March, 2013, Intertrust filed a patent suit against Apple Inc.[34] [35] Apple settled the suit in April 2014 for undisclosed terms.[36]

In October 2014, Princeton University professor Robert Tarjan rejoined Intertrust as chief scientist.[37]

In December 2016, the company added two investors, the German utility company Innogy (acquired by E.ON in 2020[38]) and the Japan - U.S. venture capital company World Innovation Lab. [39]

In April 2017 the company launched with Google the PatentShield program.[40]

In May 2019, the Australian energy company Origin Energy invested $20 million USD in Intertrust.[41]

In June 2020, the company announced the Intertrust Platform, which has been described as “a complete ecosystem of data security and rights management products”.[42] [43]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Platform for Data-driven Business Intertrust. 2021-03-08. Intertrust Technologies. en-US.
  2. News: Captain's Blog: Marlin - The Hidden Gem of DRM . Packet Ship blog . May 29, 2014 . February 3, 2017 .
  3. Web site: DRM & Interoperability: Marlin, Coral & DECE . Slide presentation . April 14, 2010 . Marlin Developer Community . February 1, 2017 .
  4. Web site: Contact Us. 2021-03-11. Intertrust Technologies. en-US.
  5. Web site: Form S1: Registration Statement . July 29, 1999 . US SEC . December 14, 2016 .
  6. News: Software Publishers Seek Patents . September 9, 1985 . Elizabeth Ranney . Info World . 5 . December 15, 2016 .
  7. Web site: Database usage metering and protection system and method . US Patent 4827508 A . Victor H. Shear . October 14, 1986 . Granted May 2, 1989
  8. Web site: Can This Man Bring Down Microsoft? Maybe not. But his company's patent suit is the biggest legal threat to Microsoft since the antitrust case . December 30, 2002 . Fortune . Roger Parloff . December 15, 2016 .
  9. Web site: Testimony of Victor Shear, Founder and CEO, InterTrust Technologies Corporation, Before United States Senate Judiciary Committee . April 3, 2001 . Press release . February 3, 2017 .
  10. News: Locking up 'Net Copyrights: IBM, Novell to push 'secure containers' as on-line cash registers for electronic publishers . Kevin Fogerty, Michael Cooney and Ellen Messmer . October 16, 1995 . Network World . 66 . December 15, 2016 .
  11. Book: Embedded, Everywhere: A Research Agenda for Networked Systems of Embedded Computers . National Academies Press . October 18, 2001 . 9780309075688 . Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, Committee on Networked Systems of Embedded Computers .
  12. Book: From Assets to Profits: Competing for IP Value and Return . Bruce Berman . December 3, 2008 . John Wiley & Sons . 9780470450499 . 206–207 .
  13. Web site: Intertrust Technologies Corp (ITRU) IPO . October 27, 1999 . NASDAQ . February 3, 2017 .
  14. Web site: Form 10-K: Annual Report for the Period Ending December 31, 2001 . March 15, 2002 . US SEC . February 3, 2017 .
  15. Web site: Form 10-Q: Quarterly Report for the Quarter Ending September 30, 2002 . US SEC . November 14, 2002 . February 16, 2017 .
  16. News: Sony, Philips to Buy InterTrust, Gaining Control of Key Patents. Journal. Don Clark Staff Reporter of The Wall Street. WSJ. 2018-05-11. en-US.
  17. Web site: Fidelio Completes Acquisition of InterTrust Technologies Corporation . Press release . January 7, 2003 . February 3, 2017 .
  18. News: TECHNOLOGY; Microsoft Settles InterTrust Suit For $440 Million. Lohr. Steve. 2004-04-12. The New York Times. 2018-05-11. en-US. 0362-4331.
  19. News: Update: Microsoft to settle with InterTrust for $440M: Microsoft makes deal in long-running case over InterTrust's DRM software . Info World . April 12, 2004 . Paul F. Roberts . December 14, 2016 .
  20. Book: Umeh, Jude C.. The World Beyond Digital Rights Management. 2007. BCS, The Chartered Institute. 9781902505879. en.
  21. News: Coral Consortium, the world's biggest DRM talking shop. 2018-05-11. en.
  22. Web site: InterTrust Technologies . Aventurine company profile . December 16, 2016 .
  23. News: Forbes . August 8, 2009 . Taylor Buley . A Scheme For Protecting Content . December 16, 2016 .
  24. News: Huawei and Intertrust Enter into Marlin Technology Alliance . Press release . March 1, 2011 . December 16, 2016 .
  25. Web site: Pioneer's SyncTV YAOTVS (yet another online TV service) . Thomas Ricker . November 19, 2007 . EnGadget . February 3, 2017 .
  26. Web site: HTC partners with Intertrust, buys 20 percent of SyncTV . Terrence O'Brien . March 26, 2012 . EnGadget . February 3, 2017 .
  27. Book: Securing Digital Video: Techniques for DRM and Content Protection. Eric Diehl. June 26, 2012. Springer. 9783642173455. 145–146.
  28. News: Intertrust Acquires SyncTV from Pioneer. 2009-02-11. Copyright and Technology. 2018-05-11. en-US.
  29. News: Nest Labs Reportedly Nears Closure of $150M Venture Round. Greentech Media. 2018-05-11. Current investors include (...) and Intertrust. Those firms are reportedly participating in the latest round behind DST Global..
  30. Web site: U.S. software technology co Intertrust Technologies acquires Estonia's Planet OS. baltictimes.com. en. 2018-05-11.
  31. News: Intertrust Technologies Enters Genomics Space With Genecloud Project. GenomeWeb. 2018-05-11. en.
  32. Web site: Intertrust subsidiary chases App and content protection. 2021-03-08. Rethink. en.
  33. Web site: David Maher, EVP, CTO, Intertrust Technologies. 2021-03-08. www.topionetworks.com.
  34. News: Intertrust Sues Apple Over Patent Infringement . Connie Guglielmo . Forbes . March 20, 2013 . December 16, 2016 .
  35. Web site: Complaint for Patent Infringement: Intertrust Technologies Corporation vs. Apple Inc. . March 20, 2013 . United States District Court Northern District of California . December 16, 2016 .
  36. News: Intertrust Settles Patent Suit Against Apple . April 4, 2014 . Wall Street Journal . Don Clark . December 16, 2016 .
  37. News: Princeton Computer Scientist Robert E. Tarjan Appointed Chief Scientist at Intertrust Technologies . October 29, 2014 . Press release . December 16, 2016 .
  38. Web site: Nhede. Nicholas. 2020-06-03. innogy takeover by E.ON complete. 2021-03-08. Smart Energy International. en-ZA.
  39. Web site: 2016-12-13. Intertrust Grows Investor Base in a Major Push to Expand its Products and Services. 2021-03-08. VentureBeat. en-US.
  40. Web site: Google's and Intertrust's new PatentShield helps startups fight patent litigation in return for equity – TechCrunch. techcrunch.com. en-US. 2018-05-11.
  41. III.11. Estimated remittance flows, by origin and receiving country and region, 2010, USD million.. 2021-03-08. 10.1787/888932617341.
  42. Web site: Choudhury. Sudipta. 2020-10-30. DRM- How Business Can Meet the Higher Demands, Challenges of Big Data and IoT Applications. 2021-03-08. EnterpriseTalk. en-US.
  43. Web site: 2020-06-25. Intertrust Launches Intertrust Platform, a Single Platform to Enable the Next Generation of Online Commercial Activities. 2021-03-08. www.businesswire.com. en.

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