Jun 28, 2010
I finally got around to putting up my article on the importance of and possible requirement for ongoing IP Due Diligence. The article can be found HERE, or under the Published Articles page of IP Prospective. The article was first published in the March/April 2010 issue of The Federal Lawyer, the official publication of the Federal Bar Association.
Also, check the upcoming July issue of The Federal Lawyer for my article on the impact of IP insurance on the IP litigation landscape and ... Read More
Jun 22, 2010
Today, the last day of the IP Business Congress 2010 in Munich, the CIPO Clinic is being held. This appears to be an interactive event with question-and-answer sessions and an opportunity for Chief Intellectual Property Officers to tell the IP world about this position and the tricks to building a successful IP profit center. If any IP Prospective readers attended the CIPO Clinic and have feedback or comments on the event, I would love to know how it went and ... Read More
Jun 22, 2010
The discussion of how best to create a liquid and transparent market for intellectual property rights never gets old, and every step taken to offer new and complete information to further that discussion is a step in the right direction. The discussion has morphed from ideas to talking points to individual and collaborative research and publications (See Mark Lemley of Stanford Law and Nathan Myhrvold of Intellectual Ventures' article "How to Make a Patent Market") . . . and now to the ... Read More
Jun 22, 2010
The IP Market Player of the Week this week was an easy choice. The most influential gathering of IP professionals in the world takes place at the annual IP Business Congress presented by IAM, and this year it is in Munich. The Event commences today, June 20th, and runs through Tuesday June 22. However, many IP professionals have been in Munich since early last week for informal and formal gatherings and meetings. Work engagement prevented me from attending this year, but I promised ... Read More
Jun 3, 2010
Here is a talking point that every IP strategist and professional in the IP monetization business has been waiting to put in their arsenal of persuasion efforts: MIT agrees. I was put on to this short piece from the MIT News Online by Andrew Watson at ipVA. The piece discusses the views of MIT Sloan School of Management Senior Lecturer Professor Joseph Hadzima Jr., which are quite in line with all that IP Prospective stands for. In short, quality IP and an efficient ... Read More
Jun 2, 2010
In a report yesterday, Bloomberg shed light on what PatentFreedom is calling the 2nd largest NPE in the country. Second, of course, to Intellectual Ventures. John Desmarais, a former big-firm lawyer and defender of large corporations in patent infringement cases, has taken the independent train to NPE-ville. According to the report, Desmarais left his firm in May to form Desmarais, LLP. But this wasn't the usual "big time partner leaves big firm to start small shop" deal. No, Desmarais seems to have had a plan in place for ... Read More
May 28, 2010
The insolvent Nortel Networks Corp. has a very valuable patent portfolio. But because so many suiters may be in the market to purchase the portfolio, the question has become how valuable? Bloomberg ran a report about the portfolio, speculating that it may go for as much as $1.1B. Joff Wild at the IAM blog has a good post on the validity of this figure, as well as an interesting comment from Andrew Watson of ipVA regarding possible interested parties. This will be ... Read More
May 19, 2010
Tax incentives are always a large part of a corporate law practice. Taxes can dictate the structure of a deal, help provide financing for an acquisition, or simply cause an organization to incorporate elsewhere because of better tax benefits. When a company is beginning an IP licensing program, tax penalties, benefits, or other incentives could play an important role in forum shopping (if a company should have the luxury of being able to do so). While many refer to those jurisdictions with ... Read More
May 9, 2010
I read an interesting article today in Network World titled "The Defensive Patent License makes patents less evil for open source". The article describes the efforts of two law professors and directors of UC Berkeley's Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic to create a Defensive Patent License (DPL). According to the article, the DPL is supposed to create protection mechanisms for open source practitioners in the software industry from NPE's. While the article reflects archaically upon NPE's as "trolls" and states ... Read More
Apr 27, 2010
Whether for better or worse for the IP litigation landscape - depending on who you are and from what perspective you view the enforcement of intellectual property rights - the intellectual property insurance business model is catching on with companies that view themselves as "at risk" entities. I recently sat down at a meeting with Chuck Baxter, General Counsel and Senior Underwriter for Intellectual Property Insurance Services Corp., to learn first hand what services are offered by an IP insurer; how might these services benefit a business ... 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. 