forgot to add, Myhrvold is on-record stating that IV generally doesn't invest in pharmaceutical type patents: http://leavingthesunbehind.blogspot.com/2012/11/part-ii-ipcheckups-intellectual.html so the whole drug-to-market issue isn't germane to the question as phrased (though it is interesting).

The question was specifically about if IV were to go away, not all patents. IV is qualitatively different than a pharma company holding IP on a drug target.

Hypothetically, if Intellectual Ventures were to vanish as an organization, and its IP holdings were put into the public domain, what would be the net effect for society? Do you believe that it would be detrimental to society, and if so, how?

(Have been lurking on Slashdot for 14 years, but it was a chance to ask Dr. Myhrvold a question that motivated creating an account).