Main Street Catalysts:  Patents, Immersion, and Passion

By: Trevor Blum

US economic news has been notably bleak over the past month:   GDP growth figures have been revised downward; US long-term debt has lost its AAA-rating; payrolls are reported (and expected to continue) to rise at a syrupy pace; and buyer sentiment, as tracked by the Michigan Consumer Sentiment index, is falling. Additionally, developments outside of the US such as sovereign debt issues in Europe, have brought insult to financial injury, leaving insightful analyst, Mr. John Mauldin, to quote the 1987 R.E.M. song, ... Read More

Categories: Author: TMB, Burgeoning Business, Monetizing IP, Today in IP, innovation

Quality over Quantity: Examining Google’s Acquisition of Motorola Mobility

By: Trevor Blum
computer

Financial analysts this week are aflutter with opinions regarding the announced US$12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (MMI) by Google, Inc. (GOOG).  Unlike most billion dollar acquisitions, the deal is seemingly focused on one asset class: patents. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google will gain ownership of Motorola Mobility’s approximately 17,500 patents and 7,500 applications, teaching telecommunications technologies, notably relating to the popular Android mobile operating system. To comprehend this deal, many analysts are focused little beyond the ... Read More

Categories: Author: TMB, Investment Intelligence, Today in IP

Invent for Humanity

By: Ian McClure

Today the Licensing Executives Society International, Inc. (LESI) and the Center for Applied Innovation (CAI) Announced the Invent for Humanity™ Technology Transfer Exchange Fair, a first-ever event bringing together a renowned collection of technology leaders, humanitarian organizations, and IP licensing & tech transfer professionals. Invent for Humanity is a two day event (January 24-25, 2012) held concurrently with the LESI Global Technology Impact Forum (GTIF) in Geneva, Switzerland. Pairing the event with GTIF creates the opportunity for participants to interact and collaborate with ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP

CIPO Clinic Today at the IP Business Congress 2010

By: Ian McClure

Today, the last day of the IP Business Congress 2010 in Munich, the CIPO Clinic is being held. This appears to be an interactive event with question-and-answer sessions and an opportunity for Chief Intellectual Property Officers to tell the IP world about this position and the tricks to building a successful IP profit center. If any IP Prospective readers attended the CIPO Clinic and have feedback or comments on the event, I would love to know how it went and ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP

Nortel Patents Sale: The difficulty of putting a pricetag on a large portfolio

By: Ian McClure
nash2

The insolvent Nortel Networks Corp. has a very valuable patent portfolio.  But because so many suiters may be in the market to purchase the portfolio, the question has become how valuable?  Bloomberg ran a report about the portfolio, speculating that it may go for as much as $1.1B.  Joff Wild at the IAM blog has a good post on the validity of this figure, as well as an interesting comment from Andrew Watson of ipVA regarding possible interested parties.  This will be ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP

Great Article on Intellectual Property Finance and Monetizing IP to Kick-Start a Start-Up

By: Ian McClure

Kenan Patrick Jarboe, President of Athena Alliance, has partnered with graduate student Ian Ellis to author a great paper on innovative options for financing innovation.  It is a great read for anyone looking into ways to monetize their intellectual capital or intangible assets, or simply to raise capital in order to turn their idea or intangible asset into reality or a product.   See Intangible Assets:  Innovative Financing for Innovation at the Issues in Science and Technology website. Read More

Categories: Today in IP

Leibovitz Finds a New Creditor to Take Copyrights as Collateral

By: Ian McClure

According to a recent Bloomberg article titled "How Leibovitz Found New Partner for $24 Million Debt, Archive", Anne Leibovitz has apparently left her financial troubles behind with Art Capital and has solicited a new creditor, to the tune of $24 million, for her lifetime catalog of copyrights.  According to the article, L.A.-based private equity firm Colony Capital, LLC is willing to take on her $24 million debt to Art Capital, and the contract will be collateralized by Leibovitz's archive of about 100,000 ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP

Ocean Tomo PatentRatings Ranks 25 Most Inventive Companies

By: Ian McClure
ot_logo

Things have been warp-speed at the office lately, so I apologize for being about 3 weeks late on this. Better late than never. Ocean Tomo was asked by Bloomberg Business Week to use their PatentRatings platform to rank the 25 most inventive companies in the world. OT's patented program ranked companies based on the most valuable patent portfolios. Read more about the rankings and the results at Ocean Tomo's press release. A good James Malackowski quote from the release: "The ultimate value of a patent ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP

President Obama Speaks On Broadening International Intellectual Property Rights

By: Ian McClure
obama

At a town hall meeting in Elyria, Ohio on Friday, President Obama took questions from the audience.  One local businessman asked the President about patent protection, expressing his frustrations that large corporations are holding large patent portfolios simply to stifle innovation.  The following is Ohio.com's report of the President's response: ''We need a patent system that encourages innovation and doesn't lock in big monopolies from trying to get another 10 years on a patent that prevents new products into the system,'' Obama said. The ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP

IP Supplement to UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions Could Be Adopted This Summer

By: Ian McClure
uncitral

Word comes from the IAM blog that the Annex on Intellectual Property to UNCITRAL's Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions, about which I have been regularly posting for almost a year now, may be solidified as soon as February (the next session for Working Group VI, charged with the responsibility for the Annex), and offered for adoption at the next Commission session in June/July 2009.  The Legislative Guide will be a guide on secured transactions offered to all member states of the UN in an ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP