Feb 27, 2009
There is a discreet lending market in New York and few places beyond that trades cash for copyrights until the cash is returned with interest. To play in this field might actually be less of a risk than banks lending on collateralized real estate, based on the fluctuation of real estate values. Certain and valuable copyrights hold their value quite nicely, even in a recession.
A recent story in the New York Times (which also reached a few IP blogs such as IPKat) disclosed ... Read More
Feb 11, 2009
Our new fearless leader proclaimed in his inauguration speech that we need to “put science back in its rightful place.” Political and religious leanings aside, the debate over this decree could start with considerations over how science and creativity is funded. One of the obvious purposes for establishing intellectual property laws is to secure a method for incentivizing further creation. That incentive, of course, is a monetary motive. Creators continue to invent because they may own their creations and reap the rewards ... 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
Feb 5, 2009
The method of using IP assets to raise funds has slowly been growing on bankers and business executives alike. In a knowledge society, small and mid cap enterprises need financing, and the only assets to use as collateral are intangible ones. Fortunately, the world is accepting the idea that intellectual property is more than just a legal right and a burgeoning article of trade. It is also a means for financing an entrepreneurial venture. The concept is not completely new. The film industry has employed a unique financing model based ... Read More
Feb 4, 2009
Players in the financial investment sector have forever heeded to the wayward movements of the "sophisticated investor". The exclusive club of well-to-do money-savvy individuals have made a killing on that very title. Institutional investors, funds, VC's and other financial block veterans have tossed silly amounts of coin into a pool, all because the pool-keeper deemed himself a "sophisticated investor". Two months ago, you could have asked anybody on Wall Street if Bernie Madoff was a "sophisticated investor", and any outlier answer would ... 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 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 26, 2009
The new issue of Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) was released with some fantastic features. One of note, written by finance editor Nigel Page, touches on the world-wide recession with a force of optimism for IP as a real asset class. Asserting that the financial meltdown is actually the very thing that will lead to IP as a tradeable asset, Page writes that, "[a]lthough everyone acknowledges that these are difficult and uncertain times, the general view is that IP and intangibles in general ... 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
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. 