Posts Tagged: "Eran Zur"

Debt vs. Equity – The Financing of Patent Monetization

Of course, if the debt provider is doing their job properly the valuation of the assets is to provide a safety net in the event of default. The fact that certain patents are currently under assault has to weigh into the valuation proposition, but the debt provider is not in the business of providing money to acquire patents. The debt provider would rather never have the assets revert to them. They want regular payments to service the debt. Thus, who you work with matters on at least one level. “The story matters a lot, and management is super important,” Zur explained. “One should look at the management because it is extremely important how the company itself, not the assets, are going to succeed.” If management is bad that increases the risk and debt providers have to act accordingly.

Can New Patent Monetization Models Save American Innovators?

It has been several generations since Congress has enacted changes to the patent laws that gave greater rights to innovators, the Supreme Court today is reminiscent of Courts in the past that had never seen a patent that contained valid claims, and the Federal Circuit is infatuated with de novo review and willingness to rubber stamp invalidity decisions parroting the Supreme Court’s intellectually dishonest and logically inconsistent tests. In the wake of all of this uncertainty and outright vilification of inventors and the patent system, there are some in the licensing and monetization industry who are trying to bring meaningful financial innovations to the fore. For the foreseeable future, given the reality of a completely dysfunctional federal government and judges more interested in being legislators, we can hope that thought leaders with new patent monetization models can provide a solution that will keep innovators inventing and society benefitting from the fruits of their labors.