Jan 24, 2009
A somewhat recent phenomenon in the patent arena is the creation of "patent pools", where a number of dynamic companies with different agendas throw their patents onto a single licensing platform making their patents available under common terms. In effect, a company's IP is available to pool members, but barriers to enter the market are effectively erected, causing more prospective competitors to license from the patent pool. Therefore, even when a company's specific patent is not needed, it reaps the benefit. These ... Read More
Jan 23, 2009
This is the "have your cake and eat it too" scheme.
Companies often believe that core intellectual property only holds value in the competitive advantage it creates through its operational use. Although this may be true in some cases, a core IP sale and license-back model may be advantageous in other situations. If a company's IP is critical to its operations, but it needs cash to operate, it may sell its IP to another company in a transaction that allows the selling company ... Read More
Jan 22, 2009
(The following will be the first installment of a series called "Monetizing IP" that IP Prospective plans to run daily over the next week. The topics will cover conventional models such as sale, license-back, and outbound licensing, and then will move to new models, such as patent pools, IP auctions, IP stock markets/investing, and defensive IP aggregators.)
It is no secret that we live in an information society, but consider the following: according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, intellectual property in ... Read More
Jan 20, 2009
Today's Inauguration of the 44th President, Barack Obama, holds heavy implications on every American political policy, including our domestic and foreign patent policies. The President is charged with the responsibility of appointing a Director of the PTO, who's leadership could reflect a resurgence of innovation preeminence for the U.S. Also, Federal Circuit openings must be filled by the President over the next 4 years, and knowledgeable appointees will be a crucial element to a regained preeminence.
The PTO and the Federal Circuit have, at ... Read More
Jan 19, 2009
We are in the midst of two extremely important days for Americans, one of which is annual, and the other is one of the most important days ever. In light of today's holiday in celebration of Dr. King's life and accomplishments, which led the way for the next President of the U.S. to be inaugurated tomorrow, I'd like to discuss a subject that has somewhat marred Dr. King's legacy . . . his brand. There has been some conversation in the world ... Read More
Jan 19, 2009
Transparency, or the lack thereof, has caused hopeful transactors in the IP market more frustration than Terrell Owens has caused General Managers in the NFL. The sell-side has never had a platform on which to market their rights to all potential buyers, and the buy-side has never had a platform on which complete information is disclosed. This is partly (and to some, wholly) due to the inherent character of intellectual property and its valuation.
The phenomenon of IP Auctions, however, has the potential ... Read More
Jan 17, 2009
Copyright and music publishers in Nashville have for years adopted and exercised a business model that was created decades ago. That model includes hiring songwriters, or buying the composition right to songs (as opposed to the sound recording right), and marketing those rights to record labels and artists for inclusion in an upcoming album (and the payment of performance and mechanical rights). Transactions in this business have been controlled and channeled by those companies that have been doing it for a long ... Read More
Jan 16, 2009
Good information on IP, IP management, and IP investing is surprisingly hard to find. MBA and Law school courses cover most issues dealing with IP recognition, litigation, and protection, but few deal squarely with the issue of IP management and the burgeoning investment market focusing on intellectual property.
When it comes to this niche field, there is one firm that is leading the charge. Based out of Chicago, Ocean Tomo, a self-proclaimed Intellectual Capital Merchant Banc® firm is at the frontier of corporate ... Read More
Jan 14, 2009
Currently, with the number of companies jumping under the Chapter 11 umbrella, one has to ask where all of the IP is going? Maybe even more importantly, it is very apparent that some small to mid-cap companies are selling their ever-so-important patents just to stay afloat. (For further reading on this topic, there is a great post on IP Finance today titled "Has the Great Patent Fire-Sale Started?", which recognizes this trend and ponders what this will mean for the respective patent markets). A ... Read More
Jan 12, 2009
I recently authored an article ("Termination Rights: A Second Bite at the Apple") that was published in the January 2009 issue of The Federal Lawyer regarding section 304(c) of U.S.C. Title 17. That section, which affords certain termination rights to authors of copyrighted works which were secured and granted prior to 1978, has garnered little attention until recently, mostly because of the small timeframe through which the rights can be exercised.
I wrote the article because of a string of recent cases (and ... 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. 