Jan 23, 20100

President Obama Speaks On Broadening International Intellectual Property Rights

By: Ian McClure
obama

At a town hall meeting in Elyria, Ohio on Friday, President Obama took questions from the audience.  One local businessman asked the President about patent protection, expressing his frustrations that large corporations are holding large patent portfolios simply to stifle innovation.  The following is Ohio.com's report of the President's response: ''We need a patent system that encourages innovation and doesn't lock in big monopolies from trying to get another 10 years on a patent that prevents new products into the system,'' Obama said. The ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP
Jan 21, 20101

Valuing a Brand License Based on Risk of Dilution

By: Ian McClure
The Golden Brand

As a lawyer, it is generally not my job to come up with a price to be paid for a license to use a client's trademark. Sure, I might be given some ballpark figures by the client and set out to negotiate based on these figures, but I don't come up with these ballpark figures. I could if it was asked of me, but it is usually left to the client to figure out what it thinks its brand is worth for the ... Read More

Categories: Trademark Trends
Jan 21, 20100

IP Supplement to UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions Could Be Adopted This Summer

By: Ian McClure
uncitral

Word comes from the IAM blog that the Annex on Intellectual Property to UNCITRAL's Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions, about which I have been regularly posting for almost a year now, may be solidified as soon as February (the next session for Working Group VI, charged with the responsibility for the Annex), and offered for adoption at the next Commission session in June/July 2009.  The Legislative Guide will be a guide on secured transactions offered to all member states of the UN in an ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP
Jan 20, 20100

Introducing Marc Lucier of Deutsche Bank

By: Ian McClure
portfolio_128x128

I've realized that the "IP Market Player of the Week" may also be a highly influential individual in the IP market, and should not be limited to firms and institutions.  Thus, this week's "IP Market Player of the Week" is an individual working from within a large institution. The position of IP asset manager is not one which is commonly held by the largest I-Banking institutions across the world. Nevertheless, Deutsche Bank, and more specifically one of its Directors, Marc Lucier, have formed ... Read More

Categories: IP Market Players
Jan 13, 20106

A New Legal Landscape for IP: Ex-Ante Will Join Ex-Post Services

By: Ian McClure
change

The legal profession is very much like other successful services that have enjoyed longevity - it capitalizes on a need based on a recurring problem by fixing the problem(s) or preventing its persistence or recurrence specific to one client.  The legal profession with regard to intellectual property is no different.  In fact, the IP legal profession has perhaps relied on this business model to an even greater degree, as the general lack of comprehension with respect to intellectual property in the business ... Read More

Categories: Burgeoning Business