Feb 23, 2009
Headlines of late have concerned themselves with competition, or the lack thereof, created by certain adopted business methods or maneuvers. With the inauguration of a new President came a proposed tougher stance on antitrust issues. Obama appointed Christine A. Varney to head the Justice Department's antitrust division in a move that was meant to send a warning signal that the new administration was cracking down on companies vying for monopoly market positions.
Google is not new to the monopoly discussion. Varney has already ... Read More
Feb 16, 2009
Last week, a landmark decision in a Patent Court in England finally broke ground for employee inventors in the UK trying to receive royalties for their inventions' added value. The case, Kelly and Chiu v GE Healthcare Ltd [2009] EWHC 181 (Pat), enforced provisions of UK patent law that had been introduced over thirty years ago and amended recently to add teeth. Specifically, the provision provides for employee inventors to receive compensation for a patent's added benefit to corporate value. As IPKat reports, the decision ... Read More
Feb 13, 2009
While many companies have chosen to cut costs and ride the recession wave, some savvy companies are taking this time to discover new value in their company; value in the intangibles. Although some executives equate "cost-effeciency" with cutting employees and holiday parties, others are finding undiscovered or underutilized intellectual property and turning it into a new profit center.
While IP value generally isn't included on a balance sheet, its distinctive worth to a company shines at a time when standard revenue streams demonstrate ... Read More
Feb 9, 2009
An investment banker friend sent me a very interesting blog post from Broken Symmetry. It creatively considers an historical analogy, at the intersect of business method and creative process, between 15th Century Venice and modern day Silicon Valley. The piece goes on to discuss comparisons between the two, such as their isolated position from other major metropolitan centers (Florence and Rome, LA and New York), or their aspiring classes of artisans and entrepreneurs. There also exists a parallel between the investors of both ... Read More
Jan 31, 2009
Every once in a while I will read about a business venture that is so business-savvy, yet so simple, I pinch myself for not thinking of it, while applauding the ones who did at the same time. A recent post on IP Finance introduced a new business model that is currently being tested in the music industry. In short, bands and artists are asking their loyal fans (and those that just hear them and think they are good enough to make it) ... Read More
Jan 30, 2009
A recent New York Times article discusses the print magazine business and the rising number of casualties the recession has claimed. This month has seen 14 magazines go under, including Country Home, Arthur, Vital Source, Map Magazine, and Teen. Going down with the balance sheets, obviously, is each of those respective brands. Effectively, each demise takes with it that brand's intellectual property, including copyrights, trademarks, customer lists, subscription lists, vendor lists, and more.
Many smaller print-media magazines probably don't have much overhead. A ... Read More
Jan 28, 2009
After reading Jackie Hutter's (author of the IP Asset Maximizer Blog, a great read) comment under Joff Wild's post on IAM, I hastily posted a response (comment #15). Subsequently, I read some other responses, and after giving Jackie's words some more thought, I slightly digress from my initial response.
I still believe transparency is the key to standardizing IP valuation. However, when I speak of such valuation, I do so in the transactional context. Jackie's words, "valuation of intangible assets primarily by what ... Read More
Jan 27, 2009
At one time, it was believed that at least 70% of all corporate value was in a corporation's intangible assets. This percentage, while probably assuming too much for many companies, and also too little for others, has been agreed upon by numerous IP professionals. Apparently, the "average" is stumbled upon by subtracting a corporation's tangible assets from its market capitalization, the remaining assets presumably being IP. It is true that tangible assets have made up less and less of a corporation's market ... Read More
Jan 25, 2009
I might be stretching it a bit to call it a stock market (this early), but developments are on the horizon to push IP in that direction.
The success of public auction events such as the Ocean Tomo auctions has sparked a new concept that will continue the trend toward liquidity of IP value. The Intellectual Property Exchange International (IPXI), of which Ocean Tomo is the founder and majority owner, is "the world's first financial exchange with an intellectual property focus." With its ... Read More
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
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. 