IP P®OSPE©TIVE

I have followed the developing story of John Desmarais and his reported purchase of 4,000 patents from Micron as covered by Joff Wild and the IAM Blog, among other bloggers.  A very nice recap of the story, the questions that have been raised, and the meaning of it all can be found HERE under an IAM Blog post titled "Why Micron Matters".  The better title, however, might have been "Why IP Matters", for this story truly brings to light (if all reported facts are accurate) ... Read More

Here is a talking point that every IP strategist and professional in the IP monetization business has been waiting to put in their arsenal of persuasion efforts:  MIT agrees.  I was put on to this short piece from the MIT News Online by Andrew Watson at ipVA.  The piece discusses the views of MIT Sloan School of Management Senior Lecturer Professor Joseph Hadzima Jr., which are quite in line with all that IP Prospective stands for.  In short, quality IP and an efficient ... Read More

I delivered a presentation today to the Kentucky Bar Association's Annual Corporate Counsel Conference titled Strategic IP Management: Shifting the Practice from Ex Post to Ex Ante.   The conference was well attended by numerous In-House counsel from businesses across the state, small and large.  Although it was an unconventional topic for an In-House Counsel CLE seminar, the presentation was well received and elicited a number of comments and questions afterward.  The outline materials for the presentation can be found HERE. Read More

The legal profession is very much like other successful services that have enjoyed longevity - it capitalizes on a need based on a recurring problem by fixing the problem(s) or preventing its persistence or recurrence specific to one client.  The legal profession with regard to intellectual property is no different.  In fact, the IP legal profession has perhaps relied on this business model to an even greater degree, as the general lack of comprehension with respect to intellectual property in the business ... Read More

I was introduced today to a new and intriguing blog titled Intellectual Profit, authored by Raymond Hegarty.  A recent post titled "Ten Reasons for a Separate IP Commercialization Business Unit"  caught my eye.  Noting the recent encouragement from IP professionals for the CIPO position within the C-Suite of companies, Hegarty makes the argument for bypassing this extra seat in the board room, and leading the CIPO to his own and separate business unit, even in another jurisdiction.  This is a move that, ... Read More

Progressive and successful intellectual property management involves not only the expertise of a lawyer, but also integrates knowledge and experience from various disciplines of the IP market, including valuation, sales, accounting, tax, and the ability to navigate the market with a network of relationships and an understanding of the market players.  This was the reason London-based Coller IP Management was launched.  An off-shoot of private equity head, Coller Capital, the IP consultancy combines commercial and technology expertise with patent and trademark lawyers to offer somewhat of ... Read More

An interesting article in the New York Times today discusses a Silicon Valley company called Tessera Technologies that creates packaging technology that allows for the production of miniature electronics products.  The intrigue of the article to most readers, and to the author, is two-fold: (1) the miniature technology products envisioned by the company's leaders, and (2) the ability of the company to avoid the demise that many Silicon Valley companies have met over the last few years.  A certain few last paragraphs ... Read More

One of the more interesting, and important, happenings in the IP market is the emerging movement to fill a C-Suite (corporate exec. office) chair with an individual that understands and envisions IP as a potential asset class, and not a means to litigation.  (For a good quote on the idea that we need to move away from the thinking that IP is only relevant for litigation, see the ipVA blog: "the earliest evolution of our market over-emphasises the link between IP value ... Read More

Acacia Technologies LLC, or otherwise known as the licensing company under the umbrella of the publicly traded Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTG), is "in the business of acquiring, developing, licensing and enforcing patents." (from Acacia's website)  With over 100 patented technologies in their repertoir, Acacia generates revenue through licensing patents for "primarily individual inventors and small companies with limited resources to deal with unauthorized users."   According to Acacia's Fact Sheet, the firm has generated revenue through at least 52 different licensing programs, which ... Read More

I have been waiting for this sort of collaborative venture.  According to a recent article on FindLaw, international law firm, Morrison & Foerster LLP, has entered into a collaboration with Northern California-based Ovidian Group, LLC, an IP asset management firm, to offer the kind of corporate IP management and consulting services that blend both law and business strategy.  This has been coming.  Clients are now demanding these sort of strategic consulting services that combine intellectual property and corporate management expertise with knowledge ... Read More