Mar 12, 2009
I would introduce the purpose and activities of Altitude Capital Partners myself, but an Amicus brief filed by Altitude Capital Partners (along with Ocean Tomo, Inflexion Point Strategy, IPotential, and others) with the U.S. Supreme Court in KSR International Co., v. Teleflex, Inc., introduces Altitude better than any summary I could come up with. Therefore,
Altitude Capital Partners invests in patents as well as the firms that own them. By specializing in the valuation and
enforcement of intellectual property rights, Altitude serves, as one ... Read More
Mar 11, 2009
March 26-27 - Ocean Tomo commences its IP Markets 2009 campaign with their Spring IP Auction at the Ritz in San Francisco. This auction is important for Ocean Tomo, as they have recently undergone a restructuring, and rumor has it that their Summer and Fall auctions could be postponed due to the economic climate and its possible impact on pricing. The conference begeins on Thursday, with three panel tracks covering IP in M&A, Buying & Selling IP, and Greentech IP and Investing. ... Read More
Mar 3, 2009
In what has been touted as a sequel to TARP, the Fed and Treasury launched the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) today to try and shore up small business loans. In short, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will lend up to $200 Billion to eligible owners of eligible collateral that seek funding. I emphasize "eligible" because the money only applies to entities that own certain asset-backed securities that are of the highest grade of investment. In other words, loans will ... Read More
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 12, 2009
This week's IP Market Player is Royalty Pharma. The name has begun to pop up in articles and conversations regarding attractive alternatives to raising equity capital. In a nutshell, the company purchases royalty interests in biopharmaceutical products and late-stage development drugs. Through careful purchases, it provides liquidity to its shareholders investing in these royalty streams while assuming the risks of ownership in this IP. This is an innovative product driven method of financing that is somewhat shielded from market volatility and stock price ... 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 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
Jan 14, 2009
Currently, with the number of companies jumping under the Chapter 11 umbrella, one has to ask where all of the IP is going? Maybe even more importantly, it is very apparent that some small to mid-cap companies are selling their ever-so-important patents just to stay afloat. (For further reading on this topic, there is a great post on IP Finance today titled "Has the Great Patent Fire-Sale Started?", which recognizes this trend and ponders what this will mean for the respective patent markets). A ... 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. 