Feb 18, 2010
"If everybody in the industry does it, I'll be right there," said Nathan Myhrvold, leader of Intellectual Ventures, to the New York Times in an article yesterday titled "Turning Patents Into Invention Capital". Myhrvold was alluding to the public disclosure of patents and license agreements, something that has been the topic of conversation in the IP market over the last few years. The article was actually a literary review of Intellectual Ventures, the NPE that so many love to hate, but so ... Read More
Feb 17, 2010
Consider a hypothetical: Imagine you are the CEO and sole owner of a new business enterprise. You hire a few employees who will have some innovative roles within your business model, whereby they may have some opportunities to create original work product that will be important to your business' success. This work product may be a process, a technology, a marketing plan, a human resource protocol, a work of art, or a memorandum. Now assume that, a few years down the road, ... Read More
Feb 12, 2010
In 2001, I saw Lebron James play in high school, and I remember telling myself, "that is the next Michael Jordan." Of course, I meant this from a basketball standpoint, but you can't refer to Michael Jordan without refering to his brand. MJ's brand is one of the most prolific in sports, and its longevity continues to impress. It turned out that Lebron lived up to my basketball potential billing. The brand of Lebron James has not disappointed either. He recently partnered with McDonald's, ... Read More
Feb 11, 2010
I've been meaning to have Duncan Bucknell as the IP Market Player of the Week for some time. Indeed, Mr. Bucknell frequents all of the IP blog conversations that I do, so I've read his perspective on different facets of the IP Market - usually equipped with a bit of humor, which is always a relief. On Duncan Bucknell's IP Think Tank Blog, one of my favorite IP blog conversations took place last year, titled "What is IP Strategy Anyway?" I encourage you ... Read More
Feb 11, 2010
Things have been warp-speed at the office lately, so I apologize for being about 3 weeks late on this. Better late than never.
Ocean Tomo was asked by Bloomberg Business Week to use their PatentRatings platform to rank the 25 most inventive companies in the world. OT's patented program ranked companies based on the most valuable patent portfolios. Read more about the rankings and the results at Ocean Tomo's press release.
A good James Malackowski quote from the release: "The ultimate value of a patent ... Read More
Jan 23, 2010
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
Jan 21, 2010
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
Jan 21, 2010
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
Jan 20, 2010
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
Jan 13, 2010
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
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. 