Intellectual Ventures Layoffs Hit a Fifth of Its Workforce - Businessweek

Check the full article for an Intellectual Ventures snapshot (but no additional details on the dawn of the robo-patent trolls)

"The layoffs, according to Jung, represent part of the company’s evolution. IV was the first company to try to amass so many patents, and it had to hire hundreds of people to invent the processes for buying ideas in bulk. People were needed to sort through patents, acquire them covertly, think up complementary ideas, and deal with the associated paperwork. “We have more data than anybody and have analyzed it over the years,” Jung says. “Our analysis has allowed us to save a lot of needless paperwork and become more efficient. We don’t need as many people to sift through and sort information now.” Much of the work has been simplified and automated."

Intellectual Ventures Layoffs Hit a Fifth of Its Workforce - Businessweek