Theranos Was Fake. The Patents Were Real.

About this episode

Theranos was a fraud. Its founder is in federal prison. But the patent office kept granting patents with Elizabeth Holmes's name on them: 150 in the U.S., with the biggest year in 2021, three years after the company dissolved. How does a fake company get real patents? The patent office doesn't ask for a working machine. It asks whether you've described the invention well enough that someone skilled could build it. A Halloween special from Invent Anything, timed to A24's new Nathan Fielder documentary, You Can See Everything (in theaters Oct. 16). Patents shown: US 7,291,497 · US 10,533,994 · US 8,283,155 · US 8,840,838 · US 8,475,739 · US 8,088,593 Patent count: USPTO Open Data Portal, granted U.S. patents naming Elizabeth A. Holmes as inventor (Theranos / Labrador Diagnostics lineage), retrieved Oct. 2, 2026. Sources - Fortune, "This CEO Is Out for Blood" (June 12, 2014): https://fortune.com/2014/06/12/theranos-blood-holmes/ - CMS inspection findings, Jan. 2016: https://money.cnn.com/2016/01/27/technology/theranos-lab-deficiencies-cms - Verdict, Jan. 3, 2022 (NPR): https://www.npr.org/2022/01/03/1063973490/elizabeth-holmes-trial-verdict-guilty-theranos - Ninth Circuit opinion, Feb. 24, 2025: https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2025/02/24/23-1040.pdf - Labrador Diagnostics v. BioFire (D. Del. 1:20-cv-00348): https://www.360dx.com/molecular-diagnostics/biom-rieuxs-biofire-diagnostics-sued-coronavirus-tests-accused-infringing - Fortress offers free COVID-19 licenses: https://www.lifesciencesipreview.com/americas/fortress-offers-licences-after-covid-19-testing-patent-backlash-3957 - Holmes on writing patents from prison (Feb. 2025): https://www.corrections1.com/corrections-news/behind-bars-elizabeth-holmes-works-on-patents-and-criminal-justice-reform - You Can See Everything (A24): https://a24films.com/films/you-can-see-everything Credits Photo of Elizabeth Holmes (2014): Max Morse for TechCrunch, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_Holmes_2014.jpg Patent drawings: USPTO. Music and sound design: original. Not affiliated with A24 or the film. Strategy education, not legal advice. ipCapital Group. #Theranos #ElizabethHolmes #Patents #TrueCrime #Halloween