There was a lengthy article I read a number of years ago - the source escapes me (maybe Technology Review) - that described their process at length. To call what they do "research" or "inventing" is to twist those words beyond all meaning. They contract with a number of domain experts in various fields, fly them into Seattle as consultants, and hold multi-hour brainstorming sessions where they basically throw a bunch of loose concepts at a whiteboard and see what sticks.

Like all patent trolls, they basically identify where a valuable invention is likely to occur sometime in the future, have lawyers draw up a sufficiently vague patent application, and spray and pray - and then prey.

There is zero follow up - no prototyping, no CAD files, no R&D, no clinical trials, no betas, no execution - it goes from nebulous "idea" straight to the legal department. If Myhrvold is an inventor, then Arthur C. Clarke's estate should get royalties on every satellite in orbit, and Gene Roddenberry's should get a piece of every iPhone sold.

Wait, I take that back - Myhrvold is an inventor after all. He's the Henry Ford of patent trolling - a pioneer in its mass production.