IP P®OSPE©TIVE

This interesting article was in the Wall Street Journal today, titled "Google Slowly Moving Away from its "Addiction" to M&A Earn-Outs".    An interesting thought, but hardly believable.  While I am sure that Google's leaders have realized that they may have paid a little too much in some earn-out structures because they found out they were actually paying for their own goodwill, which accelerated the target's success when taken under Google's umbrella, I believe that this model will continue to be the favored ... Read More

"If everybody in the industry does it, I'll be right there," said Nathan Myhrvold, leader of Intellectual Ventures, to the New York Times in an article yesterday titled "Turning Patents Into Invention Capital".  Myhrvold was alluding to the public disclosure of patents and license agreements, something that has been the topic of conversation in the IP market over the last few years.  The article was actually a literary review of Intellectual Ventures, the NPE that so many love to hate, but so ... Read More

I'd like to first thank all of the faithful IP Prospective readers over the last 12 months.  IP Prospective will celebrate its first birthday next month! 2009 has been quite a year - for good and for bad. The financial market was consumed by a somber mood for most of the year, with just enough shining moments near the end of the year to lead U.S. consumers and investors into 2010 with an optimistic vibe. The intellectual property market did what most expected ... Read More

In the corporate world, the phrase "due diligence" is generally used in the same sentence as the word "merger" or "acquisition", and quite rightly so. Due diligence is the practice of "fact-checking" the representations and warranties set forth in the acquisition documents and/or purchase agreement.  It is also a diligent investigation of the acquisition target to make sure no sleeping liabilities are left under the covers. But due diligence is not inextricably tied to the M&A process. In fact, it should be a ... Read More

I have posted previously on the continued discussions by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group VI (Security Interests) regarding issues in intellectual property that are raised by the inconsistencies between intellectual property law and secured transactions law. These issues have become the focal point for this Group as they attempt to put together an IP addendum to the Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions, which is to be adopted by member states. IP Finance has kept up with the ... 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

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

The rising tide of the recession has brought with it a wave of change in our approach to commerce, but perhaps no transition has provided as much optimism as the growing share of commerce involving intellectual property assets. Intellectual property has been increasingly recognized as a burgeoning asset class, an important financing tool, and a revenue-generating instrument for exchange. Acknowledging this phenomenon, the United States has joined a global initiative to help push a common knowledge of this use of intellectual property, ... Read More

The economic storm in which companies have found themselves has brought cost-cutting measures to every C-suite discussion table. Frequently, one of the first costs to go is the one which is associated with the most risk, R&D. However, as a recent BusinessWeek article points out, this may just be the time to increase innovative practices instead of cutting them.  The best quote comes from Samuel Palmisano, the Chief Executive of IBM: "Some may be tempted to hunker down, to scale back their investment in ... 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