Jun 24, 2009
Word came last week that the IP Auction platform that Ocean Tomo had pioneered and built into a world-renowned marketplace for high-profile intellectual property is now in the hands of another company, British information brokers ICAP. According to a press release:
ICAP (IAP.L), the world's premier interdealer broker, announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire the transactions division of Ocean Tomo LLC, the leading Intellectual Capital Merchant Banc® firm, for an initial consideration of US$10 million at closing, comprising $5 million ... Read More
Jun 23, 2009
While I regret that I did not make it to the IP Business Congress in Chicago this week, I did promise to relay some of the important moments of the 3-day conference. Fortunately, Joff Wild has posted an update on the IAM blog titled Seen and heard at the IPBC on some of the useful information flying around the conference rooms at the Four Seasons. The post covers important tidbits and soundbites from directors at the EPO, the USPTO, and the Intellectual ... Read More
Jun 17, 2009
Producers of the Intellectual Asset Management magazine, among other publications and IP-related endeavors, the IP Media Group has made its mark in the IP transaction market. I read IAM magazine routinely, as it is truly the best source for IP transaction-related information. I posted recently on the IAM 250, the directory source for the world's 250 leading IP market professionals. This is just one of the great ideas coming from this IP "media" guru, meant to bring a little more transparency to ... Read More
Jun 17, 2009
IP Finance posted a great informational blog today explaining the inherent characteristics of a copyright in the hands of a business, specifically during insolvency. Some of the references to particular statutes should be disregarded if you are a U.S. reader, but the gist is the same under any copyright law system. Of interest is the section on Assignment and Sale of copyright licenses. Read the entire post HERE Read More
Jun 16, 2009
When a company deceives the consuming public, or exercises anti-competitive business practices in order to gain market share, we usually punish them. This is why a Washington attorney, in March of 2007, sued Solo Cup, and then Gillette, for claiming their products were protected by patents when in fact they were not. The story of Matthew Pequignot is not new. He found an archived legal hole that allows any citizen to sue on behalf of the government if they can prove that ... Read More
Jun 8, 2009
Intellectual Asset Management magazine has created the IAM 250, a non-exclusive list of the world's leading intellectual property strategists. The list includes professional attorneys, accountants, consultants, and other business persons that remain at the frontier of the IP market and the practices that are becoming essential to managing corporate intangible assets. The list is invitation-only, which requires at least three references and recommendations. Inclusion consists of a bio in the directory and access to the members-only online discussion board, a community of dialogue ... Read More
Jun 5, 2009
A while back I had a few discussions with attorneys regarding whether you could copyright a tweet on Twitter. The discussion was sparked when it was announced that start-ups were trying to capitalize on Twitter by creating ways to monetize the 140-character "tweets" created by millions of users worldwide. This was inevitable, because when money is involved, property ownership becomes more important. If ownership of subject matter determines who gets paid a portion of any proceeds produced by that subject matter, of ... Read More
May 29, 2009
Every appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court elicits a whirlwind of scrutiny. While the current nomination of the 2nd Circuit's Judge Sonia Sotomayor has proved to be just another high school debate competition on civil rights issues for political activists and politicians, it has also proved to be unique in the fact that it brings, for the first time in a long time, considerable experience in intellectual property law to the highest court in the U.S. The 2nd Circuit is no stranger ... Read More
May 28, 2009
As CD sales have dropped, record labels are realizing that they must be on the same team as those companies that distribute digital music to millions of internet users. Thats why Warner Music Group and Universal Music have forgiven debts to some start-ups, and this month they have renogiated the terms of licensing deals to allow users to download the labels' songs. I haven't seen the agreements nor heard of the details, but apparently the groups are experimenting with unusual licensing arrangements ... Read More
May 27, 2009
The Chicago Tribune reported today that Facebook will be getting a $200 Million investment from Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian firm. The investment is said to be in exchange for almost 2% of Facebook's stock, valuing the California-based internet social networking site at roughly $10 Billion. This is down from the $15 Billion valuation of the company represented by the $240 Million investment Facebook received from Microsoft for a 1.6% stake in the company, but it grossly exaggerates the $3.7 Billion valuation Facebook ... 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. 