Posts Tagged: "patents as an asset"

Does Your IP Strategy Need a Tune-Up?

While many, if not most, enterprises have instituted, and are executing, an IP strategy of some sort, an important question should be considered: Is the IP strategy optimal, such that its execution extracts maximum value from company technology? Some corporate IP strategies may seem sound in theory, but in practice they are (a) selectively or inconsistently applied within or across projects, (b) incompatible with how teams actually work, (c) relatively narrow in how they perceive innovation, and (d) distracting to innovators and IP practitioners while consuming enormous resources. Ultimately, the return on IP investment of such strategies may be questionable. However, enterprises that periodically take a step back to reflect on their current IP strategies, and recalibrate them if appropriate, are likely to derive the greatest possible value from IP.

Carlo Cotrone

January 30, 2017

Are Patents Getting Their Mojo Back?

After a 13% decrease in patent litigation in 2014, we are currently back to the same level of activity that we saw historically, with 2015 shaping up to have an average of circa 5000 new cases. Now the REALLY interesting data point is that most cases (roughly 70%) were brought this year by an operating company… Although the pendulum has by no way stopped its course and there are still many forces at work that wish to push it to swing even further, its momentum has definitely slowed.

Louis Carbonneau

August 23, 2015

IP Strategies for Changing Times

The vast majority of the assets developed and owned by technology companies are intangible assets, i.e. they reside in their internal information and employees’ brain (Intellectual Capital or “IC”) and the output thereof (Intellectual Property or “IP”). It is estimated that in excess of 85% of the valuation of the NASDAQ Index companies (and of the new global wealth being created) lies in intangible assets. With smaller technology companies, this percentage is sometimes close to 100%. Nowadays, most technology based companies eventually fail or succeed in large part because of the way they handle their intellectual capital assets and convert those into strategic intellectual property assets.

Louis Carbonneau

April 7, 2015

What makes a patent valuable; A patent broker’s perspective

In a recent article Toxic Asset, we explained in detail how much recent court decisions and new rules at the USPTO had negatively impacted the value of US patents. This is not to say that all patents are worthless, far from it. Actually, based on the fact that we have recently received strong offers on several of the portfolio we…

Louis Carbonneau

February 3, 2015

Helping start-ups turn ideas into valuable assets

The first thing we do is we assess the idea. And when we assess the idea we verify that the idea can lead to the creation of intellectual property. Because for me, if that’s not the outcome, then it’s not an idea worth pursuing. The second thing we’re looking for is merit. So we’re checking: is that a good idea? From my experience of 20 years in Silicon Valley, it all really comes down to the connection between the idea and the founder. Some people are trying to sell somebody else’s ideas. That’s not a good idea.

Gene Quinn

January 7, 2015

Exclusive Interview with Doug Croxall of Marathon Patent Group

Doug Croxall is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Marathon Patent Group, which is a patent acquisition and licensing company. I met Croxall in New York City in November 2014 at the IP Dealmakers Forum. Croxall has been successful in the patent monetization business for years and had a unique prospective on patents as an asset. “If you are going invest your family’s fortune, I don’t think you will put all your money in one equity,” Croxall explained on the panel so it is the same thing with respect to an asset or a portfolio of assets.” He would go on to say that Marathon Patent Group has learned from “what worked in other asset areas and applied it to this one.”

Gene Quinn

December 17, 2014

Toxic Asset: The Gradual Demise of the American Patent

Not such a long time ago, owning a US patent was worth something! A patent was often the foundation for new and exciting startups, as well as a source of pride –and hopefully profits- for inventors. These assets promised competitive and strategic advantage in the market; conduits to new investment and deterrence to free riders… If the current trend is not soon reversed, others countries will become flagships for patent protection and the US might very well become the new China; an environment where innovation is no longer rewarded and where it pays more to follow than to lead. This would be a very sad and totally self inflicted demise “Made in America.”

Louis Carbonneau

December 10, 2014

Effectively Sourcing and Diligencing an IP Investment

A practicing entity may want to obtain one or more patents is for potential counter assertion against a competitor that is about to or has already sued the entity. In such a case, the scope of the search and the required due diligence may be very particularized to the competitor’s business, and are likely to require a higher level of analysis which is more particularized to a specific group of products or services. Similarly, an organization may desire to acquire, early-on, patents and applications that may be asserted down the road to avoid future litigation. This type of program seeks to acquire for a smaller value today, what may be asserted against the entity for a larger demand in the future. The diligence in such a circumstance should be focused on the risk of sale to an entity that is likely to assert the patent in the future.

Charles R. Macedo

October 16, 2014