Message from the Battlefield: Properly Secure Intangible Assets Before Managing Them

By: Ian McClure
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Consider a hypothetical:  Imagine you are the CEO and sole owner of a new business enterprise.  You hire a few employees who will have some innovative roles within your business model, whereby they may have some opportunities to create original work product that will be important to your business' success.  This work product may be a process, a technology, a marketing plan, a human resource protocol, a work of art, or a memorandum.  Now assume that, a few years down the road, ... Read More

Categories: Copyright Caucus, Patent Prospects

EPO President to Step Down at End of Term

By: Ian McClure
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It was reported by IAM this morning that Alison Brimelow will stand down as the President of the European Patent Office at the end of her term in June 2010.  She took over the office in 2007 after Alain Pompidou controlled the position from 2004 to 2007.  The EPO will have the task of electing a completely new President between now and then.  The new President will have his or her hands full with a growing backlog and financial deficiencies caused by the economic storm.  ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP

Proof of a Burgeoning Market: Patenting IP Valuation Methods

By: Ian McClure
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I have discovered a very interesting post from a couple of weeks ago on the 12:01 Tuesday Blog, written by Chicago IP attorney Aaron Feigelson.   The post is titled "Patenting the Business of Patents", and discusses tangible evidence of the burgeoning IP marketplace by way of 14 U.S. patents (11 of which have been issued in the past 2 years) covering the method and business of valuing IP.  Feigelson lists all 14 of the patents, which I will recreate the list here: 7,493,262 Method for ... Read More

Categories: Burgeoning Business, Monetizing IP, Patent Prospects

IPscore: New Tool for Patent Valuation from the European Patent Office

By: Ian McClure
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The European Patent Office (EPO) has released a new tool to evaluate individual patents called IPscore, which was actually purchased from the Danish Patent Office.  The process includes 40 assessment factors using predefined scales determining responses.  It can be downloaded at the EPO site HERE, including a manual for direction. Read More

Categories: Today in IP

LA Times Quotes Lemley on Bilski Case; Calls it a “step backward”

By: Ian McClure
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In an LA Times article published today titled "Patent Rules Out of Date, Inventors Say", IP think tank extraordinaire Mark Lemley was given some hefty sound bytes as he spoke out on the Bilski case.  The article surrounds the inventors' petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider their case, which was decided recently in the Federal Circuit.  VERY generally, the decision essentially held that patents should be reserved for mechanical innovations, and not for business methods.  When it was Lemley's turn ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP

On Monopoly and Intellectual Property

By: Ian McClure
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Headlines of late have concerned themselves with competition, or the lack thereof, created by certain adopted business methods or maneuvers. With the inauguration of a new President came a proposed tougher stance on antitrust issues. Obama appointed Christine A. Varney to head the Justice Department's antitrust division in a move that was meant to send a warning signal that the new administration was cracking down on companies vying for monopoly market positions. Google is not new to the monopoly discussion. Varney has already ... Read More

Categories: Burgeoning Business, Copyright Caucus, Patent Prospects, Portfolio Potential

Introducing: PatentFreedom

By: Ian McClure
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 PatentFreedom is a full service establishment offering subscription-based assistance in fighting the threat of non-practicing entities (NPE's).  NPE's are a growing threat to operating companies with patent portfolios of their own, in that NPE's don't hold their patents for core operational purposes, but instead use strategic enforcement activities such as licensing and litigation to turn a profit.  This use of patents has grown into a threatening phenomenon in the technology industries at an alarming rate.  PatentFreedom sets out to educate operating companies ... Read More

Categories: IP Market Players

UK Decision on Compensation for Employee Inventors; U.S. Considerations

By: Ian McClure
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Last week, a landmark decision in a Patent Court in England finally broke ground for employee inventors in the UK trying to receive royalties for their inventions' added value.  The case, Kelly and Chiu v GE Healthcare Ltd [2009] EWHC 181 (Pat), enforced provisions of UK patent law that had been introduced over thirty years ago and amended recently to add teeth.  Specifically, the provision provides for employee inventors to receive compensation for a patent's added benefit to corporate value.  As IPKat reports, the decision ... Read More

Categories: Burgeoning Business, Patent Prospects

A New President, A New Patent Policy?

By: Ian McClure
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Today's Inauguration of the 44th President, Barack Obama, holds heavy implications on every American political policy, including our domestic and foreign patent policies.  The President is charged with the responsibility of appointing a Director of the PTO, who's leadership could reflect a resurgence of innovation preeminence for the U.S.   Also, Federal Circuit openings must be filled by the President over the next 4 years, and  knowledgeable appointees will be a crucial element to a regained preeminence. The PTO and the Federal Circuit have, at ... Read More

Categories: Patent Prospects

Welcome to IP Prospective

By: Ian McClure
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IP Prospective will be a source of information and a medium for intellectual exchange at the intersect of intellectual property, law, investment, money, and corporate action. It is my hope that this online magazine will serve as a center of information and ideas for those with a keen interest in the future relationship of intellectual property and business. Indeed, while some may measure the success of this weblog by the quantity of readers it accrues, it is the quality of readers that will make the success uniquely ... Read More

Categories: Burgeoning Business, Copyright Caucus, Investment Intelligence, Monetizing IP, Patent Prospects, Portfolio Potential, Trademark Trends