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Intellectual Ventures has licensed its portfolio of 40,000 patents and patent applications to Ford Motor Co., according to an announcement from the Bellevue, Wash.-based company this morning. The deal also gives the automaker access to any future patents added to IV’s portfolio.

Intellectual Ventures President Adriane Brown
Intellectual Ventures President Adriane Brown

It’s a high-profile deal for Intellectual Ventures, the controversial patent holding and technology company led by former Microsoft technology chief Nathan Myhrvold. Intellectual Ventures has been struggling to retain its early investors from the technology industry, and the company last fall laid off 20 percent of its employees.

Ford was an early adopter of in-car infotainment systems, working initially with Microsoft on its Sync platform but more recently switching to BlackBerry’s QNX technology as the base for its next generation of car experiences.

In a post announcing the Ford deal this morning,Intellectual Ventures president and chief operating officer Adriane Brown said the license reflects the broader spread of technology in the world of transportation.

“It’s an important time in the transportation industry as the consumer depends on technology to stay connected with their professional and social networks,” she wrote. “… Automotive companies are finding the need to maintain access to a wide array of relevant patents, not traditionally available in the automotive space.”

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