Aug 12, 2009
I've known about this online community of intellectual property professionals for a while now, but I've decided to make it this week's IP Market Player because of a recent discussion I had with a few IP strategists regarding the need for more discourse among large players in the IP transactions market.
Gathering 2.0 is an online community for all professionals involved in the management of intellectual property as business assets - or in, as they call it, I-stuff (all non-legally protected intangibles). It ... Read More
Jul 31, 2009
I apologize for the break in action. I have been on the road almost continuously since attending last week's ICAP/Ocean Tomo "IP Markets 2009" Summer Auction and Conference in Chicago. Thanks to those who have messaged or emailed in search of the "full report" I promised before the event, I have not been derailed from my mission and will hereby "give the people what they want."
We all know the results of the auction. For the second straight auction, the numbers were disappointing. ... Read More
Jul 16, 2009
Another Ocean Tomo conference and auction is upon us, and perhaps this one has solicited the most curiosity from IP market outsiders because of the recent sale of the Ocean Tomo transactions practice to ICAP, including its well known auction platform. How will this transaction affect the public perception and success of these auctions? Was the auction platform really a "distressed asset", as many have called it? These will be answered shortly. The turnout for this event, however, should prove that there ... Read More
Jul 16, 2009
A great article in the New York Times today focused on university technology transfer efforts and venture funding for start-up companies in the nanotechnology field. Besides opening some eyes to the various beneficial uses of nanotechnology, the article explains the angel and VC investors that join forces with universities in subsidizing new companies, whether that be through start-up capital or providing the machines necessary to produce these technologies. Nanotech companies frequently own one type of asset and one type of asset only: ... Read More
Jul 14, 2009
Could this be a resurgence of IP securitization? Financial Times has reported a large IP securitization deal worth $250M executed by Morgan Stanley with Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Investors' return will be based on milestone royalty payments received from sales of a drug that hasn't even been approved yet. Before the recession, securitizing intangibles was becoming somewhat popular. Many are aware of the Dunkin Donuts deal that hit headlines everywhere. Still, these deals, along with most other deals, have dried up. The Vertex deal shows ... Read More
Jul 9, 2009
At a time when Michael Jackson was at the height of his entertainment career, and therefore his bargaining power with his record label, entertainment attorney John Branca negotiated a deal for Jackson that only acts like Ray Charles and Madonna have been able to duplicate: Jackson receives half of all profits from U.S. music sales (most artists get none) and a whopping 25% royalty rate on all sales (many artists get none, the best get 3% to 10%). These, however, are not ... Read More
Jul 8, 2009
Invotex Group is a consulting company with offices along the Eastern shore in Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia. According to their site, they provide accounting, financial, economic and regulatory consulting services to the business and legal communities. Of course, I wouldn't feature them here if they were just a consulting company. They also have an extensive IP management and consulting service, performing intellectual property transaction, compliance and management services for inventors, IP owners and licensors. They do a significant amount of IP licensing work, including ... Read More
Jul 2, 2009
Recently I had a conversation with two other attorneys that reinvigorated an interest in this topic: Whether the government could take intellectual property whenever it deemed appropriate, use it for a public purpose, and pay the previous owner just compensation. In other words, could IP become subject to the government's eminent domain powers (or limitation on its powers, however you decide to view the 5th Amendment), similar to real and other personal property? I had spent a long time mulling over this ... Read More
Jun 29, 2009
This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to review a 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals decision which may allow lower-cost use of DVR services without cable boxes. Cablevision Systems Corporation allows users to record television shows on Cablevision's central computer servers, instead of on cable boxes in the user's home. This allows more space for recordings, and eliminates the cost of installing cable boxes to store the recordings. Cablevisions system was challenged by a number of television networks, who allege that the ... Read More
Jun 26, 2009
As I said, the Ocean Tomo brand is still strong, and in fact continues to grow.
Just a week after news hit the fan that Ocean Tomo was selling its transactions practice and would be falling apart soon hereafter (not true), we receive word that Ocean Tomo and French bank Caisse des Dépôts have agreed to a working protocol to develop the first European patent ratings system. No money has yet changed hands as a result of the deal, but it is said ... 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. 