May 29, 2009
Every appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court elicits a whirlwind of scrutiny. While the current nomination of the 2nd Circuit's Judge Sonia Sotomayor has proved to be just another high school debate competition on civil rights issues for political activists and politicians, it has also proved to be unique in the fact that it brings, for the first time in a long time, considerable experience in intellectual property law to the highest court in the U.S. The 2nd Circuit is no stranger ... Read More
May 28, 2009
As CD sales have dropped, record labels are realizing that they must be on the same team as those companies that distribute digital music to millions of internet users. Thats why Warner Music Group and Universal Music have forgiven debts to some start-ups, and this month they have renogiated the terms of licensing deals to allow users to download the labels' songs. I haven't seen the agreements nor heard of the details, but apparently the groups are experimenting with unusual licensing arrangements ... Read More
May 27, 2009
The Chicago Tribune reported today that Facebook will be getting a $200 Million investment from Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian firm. The investment is said to be in exchange for almost 2% of Facebook's stock, valuing the California-based internet social networking site at roughly $10 Billion. This is down from the $15 Billion valuation of the company represented by the $240 Million investment Facebook received from Microsoft for a 1.6% stake in the company, but it grossly exaggerates the $3.7 Billion valuation Facebook ... Read More
May 20, 2009
Word comes from Joff Wild over at the IAM blog that the upcoming issue of IAM will be highlighted by an article focusing on Intellectaul Ventures and the machine it has become. Interestingly, Joff explains that the article will prove IV's worth as much more than a patent troll, including IP financing operations. With $5 billion in investors' money, Intellectual Ventures can do much more than just acquiring, licensing, and enforcing patents. This will undoubtedly help shape thefuture of the IP market. More on the ... Read More
May 18, 2009
When the line of traditional investment opportunities curtails, creative alternative investments must be found. I like to think that, currently, one of the most creative alternative investments that provides an option for great return (but with significant risk) can be found in commercial-stage intellectual property. Investing in inventors, universities, and start-ups involved in the innovation-to-commercialization process offer a unique but catchy investment opportunity, and Paul Capital has taken note.
The self-proclaimed "alternative investment firm" offers a branch that focuses on financing royalty products, ... Read More
May 15, 2009
Just this week, Google announced that it was changing its already-disputed advertisement policy to allow limited use of trademarks in the text of some search ads, even if the trademark owner objects. This pours salt on the wound, according to many trademark owners that have opposed Google's policy of allowing businesses to purchase trademarks to trigger pop-up ads above Google searches that include that trademark. This essentially allows competitors to show pop-up ads of their own brand whenever a competing brand name ... Read More
May 14, 2009
One of the more interesting, and important, happenings in the IP market is the emerging movement to fill a C-Suite (corporate exec. office) chair with an individual that understands and envisions IP as a potential asset class, and not a means to litigation. (For a good quote on the idea that we need to move away from the thinking that IP is only relevant for litigation, see the ipVA blog: "the earliest evolution of our market over-emphasises the link between IP value ... Read More
May 13, 2009
Yesterday, the EU handed down the largest fine in history for conducting anti-competitive business practices. The fine was handed to Intel in the amount of $1.45 Billion as a result of Intel's sales of its microprocessing chips, which are used in (or tied to) most PC's sold in the world. The EU fine comes on the heels of announcements by the Obama Administration that it will crack down on monopolistic practices, but after mergers such as Pfizer/Wyeth and Ticketmaster/Live Nation (purportedly) may ... Read More
May 12, 2009
The rising tide of the recession has brought with it a wave of change in our approach to commerce, but perhaps no transition has provided as much optimism as the growing share of commerce involving intellectual property assets. Intellectual property has been increasingly recognized as a burgeoning asset class, an important financing tool, and a revenue-generating instrument for exchange. Acknowledging this phenomenon, the United States has joined a global initiative to help push a common knowledge of this use of intellectual property, ... Read More
May 8, 2009
The economic storm in which companies have found themselves has brought cost-cutting measures to every C-suite discussion table. Frequently, one of the first costs to go is the one which is associated with the most risk, R&D. However, as a recent BusinessWeek article points out, this may just be the time to increase innovative practices instead of cutting them. The best quote comes from Samuel Palmisano, the Chief Executive of IBM:
"Some may be tempted to hunker down, to scale back their investment in ... Read More
Ian McClure is a former corporate & securities and intellectual property law attorney with 
Trevor M. Blum is a former Associate in the Chicago-based, valuation practice group of Ocean Tomo, LLC., an intellectual property (IP) consultancy. Additionally, he provided instrumental research support to Intellectual Property Exchange International, Inc., an IP exchange start-up. Trevor holds a B.S. from Indiana University and is currently an MBA candidate at the University of Cambridge, focusing on international business and finance. His interests also include entrepreneurship, economics, and informational visualization. He enjoys running and cycling in his free time. Trevor seeks to bring a transnational business perspective to the blog. 