Funded by a $400 million investment from some of the biggest tech companies, including Intel and Microsoft, Bellevue, Wash.-based Intellectual Ventures has been buying up thousands of patents through shell corporations. As the patent stockpile grows, so does the speculation -- and the fear. IP lawyers and tech executives worry that the company is less interested in changing the world with big ideas, and more focused on becoming an über-troll, wreaking litigation havoc across industries with its patents.