Active Links - Buying & Selling IP, Intellectual Property & Patents

ipFrontline.com: The Value of Valuing Patents

gideon — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:39:52 +0000

Much has been written about valuing patents. Some call it an art. Others claim it is a science. Almost everyone expresses the difficulty in attempting to put a value on a patent. (At our valuation firm, we half cynically say that when one doesn’t know the value of a patent, they should revert to our default valuation method which is right 95% of the time. The default methodology simply holds that the value of a patent is zero.)

Despite the challenges involved with valuing IP, there are several important reasons why companies and tech transfer offices should make the effort. First, in some instances—such as post-acquisition, impairment, fresh start from bankruptcy, tracking intra-company transactions, and posting annual appreciation or depreciation in the value of venture capitalists’ stakes in their portfolio companies—accounting rules require such valuation appraisals.

Read the rest on ipFrontline.com

ipFrontline.com: Turning Patents into Cash: Three Ways to Monetize

gideon — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:15:11 +0000

Organizations that build strong patent portfolios can boost their chances of monetizing their patents if they follow a well-thought-out strategy, lawyers from the IP law firm Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C. and industry experts told attendees at a Boston seminar.

Patents can be cash cows, said Randy Pritzker, co-chair of the firm’s electrical and computer technologies practice group. IBM, which owns the most patents, has earned $10 billion from patent licensing deals, while Columbia University has reaped $134 million in royalties. Suing infringers can pay big too: Centocor won a $1.7 billion verdict in 2009, and Johnson & Johnson received a $1.7 billion settlement for three cases this year….

…When it comes time to monetizing the patents, there are three primary options: licensing, selling, and litigation/enforcement.

Read the rest on ipFrontline.com

IPO.org: IPO SUBMITS FURTHER COMMENTS ON USPTO PATENT APPEALS RULES

gideon — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:14:15 +0000

On Friday IPO President DOUG NORMAN sent supplemental comments to the USPTO on the rules for ex parte appeals in patent cases. The letter elaborated on comments made by IPO during a public “roundtable” at the USPTO on January 20, 2010, and in an earlier IPO letter to the USPTO in 2007. Last week’s letter focused primarily on the proposed presumption of examiner correctness. IPO questioned whether the presumption of correctness is consistent with the statute and case law. The comments were prepared with assistance from the IPO Committee on Patent Office Practice (U.S.).

- IPO.org