The FTC Suggests a Way to Reform the Patent System in the U.S.
Last month the Federal Trade Commission issued a report that acknowledged important problems in the U.S. Patent system as it affects software. Rob Tiller alerted us to the report, entitled The Evolving IP Marketplace: Aligning Patent Notice and Remedies with Competition, which stated that in the IT sector, patents are often vague, ambiguous, and difficult to interpret, [...]
Good Marketing Builds Good Brands
It may sound obvious, but it bears repeating once in awhile, as John Warrilow reminds us. Valuation experts rely on financial data (assets, revenue, gross and net profit, cash flow, etc.), management projections and market conditions to assign a value to a business being bought or sold. When your business can charge premium pricing, is [...]
Samsung v. Apple in the U.S.
Two developments were reported this week on the Samsung v. Apple skirmishes that now seem to headline the Smartphone wars. 1. Samsung finally “looked the bear in the eye” and sued Apple in the U.S. This was not totally unexpected, but it does mean the gloves are now off. According to the lawsuit filed this week [...]
USPTO Says Hold Everything on Fast Tracking
It appears the expected $40M in related fees is not going to be able to fund the proposed Fast Track (Track One) at USPTO; the plug has been pulled a week from its proposed start. The budget crisis at the agency appears to be severe, according to Director David Kappos. So not only will Track One not be implemented, the current [...]
New intangible asset valuation designation from American Society of Appraisers
The leading valuation association, the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) is now offering a new designation in intangible asset valuation. The association cites the following reasons for developing the new designation: The increasing importance of intangible assets to business strategies and profitability, expanded financial reporting requirements regarding intangible assets Increased review of intangible asset valuations [...]
Secondary Trademark Infringement Claim Snares Web Hoster
As new as it is, secondary trademark infringement became a popular lay press topic when Google escaped the court’s wrath while it punished advertisers who used another’s trademark as part of their Google AdWords campaign. Another Internet business, Bright Builders, wasn’t so lucky, and it appears counterfeit goods tend to inflame the cockles of jury [...]
News, Views and Muse
FASB Proposes a Qualitative Assessment Test to Indicate if Goodwill Impairment Test is Necessary Late last week the FASB issued an exposure draft of a proposed update to the standards governing testing for goodwill impairment. The proposal allows an entity to first perform a qualitative assessment test to see if a goodwill impairment test is [...]
Eminent Domain Case Leads to Key Allowance in Valuation of Intangibles
An eminent domain suit is a peculiar type of action where the condemnor is under a duty and responsibility to pay the defendant landowner the full fair market value of his or her property. In this Mississippi Supreme Court case a city (Gulfport) took over the land of a privately owned public utility (Dedeaux Utility [...]
Updates to Two Previous Blog Items, Referencing Apple v. Samsung and Mattel v. MGA
Apple v. Samsung (Patents) (See precious blog item.) As expected, Samsung filed multiple patent infringement lawsuits against Apple in Korea, Japan and Germany (not in the U.S.), accusing the world’s largest technology company of violating cellphone transmission patents. These are not counterclaims; they don’t directly respond to Apple’s allegations. Samsung carefully put some bargaining chips on [...]
Two Values Reported for University IP Licensing Income in 2010
Two press items hit the same day this week regarding commercializing the intellectual property resources at universities. (I leave it to the reader to compare and contrast the exploitation of the manufacturing / process intanglibles represented in the first case, and the marketing intangible represented in the second.) Suffice it to say, a key challenge for [...]
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