Intellectual Ventures, the largest and most notorious of the patent trolls, decided this week to identify 32,000 of the 40,000 or so patents it has been using to threaten companies large and small in the name of “innovation.”

IV displayed the partial list on its website as a searchable index and a bare bones spreadsheet. The disclosure did not, however, include a list of the myriad shell companies it has spawned, some of which have been become infamous for acts like shaking down small app developers and Martha Stewart and using a patent donated to charity to start a lawsuit campaign.

Intellectual Ventures also did not provide details about why it released the partial list beyond publishing a bland statement that reads in part, “Customers want to see what is currently available to license or buy and others are curious about our holdings and our intentions.”

In response to a…