Mar 12, 2009
I would introduce the purpose and activities of Altitude Capital Partners myself, but an Amicus brief filed by Altitude Capital Partners (along with Ocean Tomo, Inflexion Point Strategy, IPotential, and others) with the U.S. Supreme Court in KSR International Co., v. Teleflex, Inc., introduces Altitude better than any summary I could come up with. Therefore,
Altitude Capital Partners invests in patents as well as the firms that own them. By specializing in the valuation and
enforcement of intellectual property rights, Altitude serves, as one ... Read More
Mar 12, 2009
The European Patent Office (EPO) has released a new tool to evaluate individual patents called IPscore, which was actually purchased from the Danish Patent Office. The process includes 40 assessment factors using predefined scales determining responses. It can be downloaded at the EPO site HERE, including a manual for direction. Read More
Mar 11, 2009
March 26-27 - Ocean Tomo commences its IP Markets 2009 campaign with their Spring IP Auction at the Ritz in San Francisco. This auction is important for Ocean Tomo, as they have recently undergone a restructuring, and rumor has it that their Summer and Fall auctions could be postponed due to the economic climate and its possible impact on pricing. The conference begeins on Thursday, with three panel tracks covering IP in M&A, Buying & Selling IP, and Greentech IP and Investing. ... Read More
Mar 11, 2009
WIPO met yesterday to discuss the topic of IP Finance, and specifically "ways in which improvements in law or financing practices may assist IP rightholders to manage their IP assets for greater value, and thereby assist Member States in setting-up appropriate national strategies in the field of IP." (Press Release) If anyone attended or has information on the meeting, I would greatly appreciate a quick summary of the meeting or any updates. Read More
Mar 9, 2009
Big news from the pharmaceutical industry today, as U.S. pharm giant, Merck, plans to buy internationally strong Schering-Plough for $41 billion. This deal comes on the heels of the Pfizer/Wyeth deal, and proves yet again that a patent portfolio must continue to reinvent itself or else drastic actions must be taken. Merck was facing patent expirations on many of its largest profit-making drugs in the next 3-7 years. Schering-Plough apparently doesn't have the same exposure to patent phase-outs, and its sales are ... Read More
Mar 7, 2009
A Los Angeles jury on Friday found that rapper Eminem's former publisher was not entitled to a higher royalty rate for digital downloads than what it received for traditional sales. The publisher was suing Eminem's record label, Aftermath Records. The case was similar to a string of cases where music publishers have tried to prove that a digital download is akin to a license rather than a traditional sale. Royalty rates for traditional sales are set at a standard rate (mechanical rate) ... Read More
Mar 6, 2009
That seems to be the tone that was taken at the Billboard Music and Money Symposium in New York on Thursday, where venture capitalists voiced their concerns for putting money into ventures that were so susceptible to law suits. An article for the Wall Street Journal reported on the symposium. According to the article, digital music start-ups have only identified two revenue streams: sale of digital goods or advertising. The sale of digital goods has become burdensome because of increased licensing price ... Read More
Mar 6, 2009
In a letter sent to President Obama this week from the Licensing Executives Society (LES), the new administration was asked to consider three initiatives to improve the marketplace for intellectual property. According to the LES press release "[t]he United States must do more to help innovative ideas and products reach the marketplace," and there needs to be new measures taken so that technology transfer and the commercialization of intellectual property is made easier and more efficient. Three specific initiatives were set forth ... Read More
Mar 5, 2009
A press release on Monday from Ocean Tomo announced a restructuring at its firm, most notably with the auction business. Andrew Ramer, former President of OT's auction business, seems to have been replaced by Dr. Dipanjan Nag and Michael Anglin. Dipanjan Nag previously developed the firm's patent bid/ask practice, and is touted to have significant experience in bio-pharm and life sciences. Anglin was previously the firm's Chief Operations Officer and has an accounting background; he will head the auction business going forward.
The ... Read More
Mar 3, 2009
In what has been touted as a sequel to TARP, the Fed and Treasury launched the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) today to try and shore up small business loans. In short, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will lend up to $200 Billion to eligible owners of eligible collateral that seek funding. I emphasize "eligible" because the money only applies to entities that own certain asset-backed securities that are of the highest grade of investment. In other words, loans will ... 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. 