IP P®OSPE©TIVE

For publicly traded IP-rich companies, the correlation between the strength of an IP management and protection plan and stock price is obvious. The track record of the OT 300 pitted against the S&P 500 between 2006 and November 2008 shows this clearly.  The OT 300 outperformed the S&P 500 by just over 460 basis points.  We keep talking about the absence of IP value from corporate balance sheets.  It just may be this absence, in fact, that tends to push such IP-rich companies' stocks ... Read More

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

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

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

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

A New York Times article today (Losses in Good-Will Values Dog Bank Deals) attributes the massive write-downs occurring at banks these days to overvalued good will and the overpayment for companies during the "merger mania" of the last decade.  The following part caught my attention: Companies are taking billions of dollars in losses as they write down the value of assets known as good will - the amount they overpaid for a business compared with the sum of its parts. As the economy ... Read More

The discussion continues on the IP valuation front.  Joff Wild added a reader response to his original "myth buster" post regarding IP valuation myths.  The response is written by Nir Kossovsky, executive secretary of the Intangible Asset Finance Society and CEO of Steel City Re.  The relevant part reads: Our current markets are volatile because value is uncertain. International accounting standards suggest that all assets be valued at market. There is considerable push back in the US because the market is damaged and ... Read More

The newest Intellectual Asset Management Magazine (IAM) revisits what is probably the most important, and most troubling, issue pervading the IP market today: Intellectual property valuation.  I have visited the topic in a number of posts, and this trend probably won't stop anytime soon. The IAM article is another step in the right direction, authored by Pat Sullivan, who has taken the reigns on the conversation of standard setting in IP valuation.  While I encourage everyone to find this issue of IAM, if not every issue, I understand it ... Read More

As individuals and small businesses look to secure funding during a credit freeze, finance innovation has led to a jump in IP-based funding.  In 1997, David Bowie opened eyes when he issued asset-backed bonds on the basis of future royalties, raising over $55 million.  This year, Annie Leibovitz, the famed photographer for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, secured $16 million in loans by pledging her life's work of copyrights.  The practice is not exclusively available for stars, however, as companies are turning ... Read More

I returned from the Ocean Tomo Spring 2009 Conference and Auction in San Francisco with a head full of questions about the status of the market.  The market continues to grow, and that is a fact evidenced by the number of professionals and market participants that attended the conference.  Nevermind the dismal auction results, which will be the subject of another post, the conference itself and the overall optimistic and enthusiastic mood of discussion that buzzed through the rooms and halls of ... Read More